The Two-Headed Monster of Bulgarian Politics

Two Bulgarian political formations have been making the headlines recently - the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (abbreviated as DPS) and the far-right nationalist Ataka (Attack).

The two parties "need each other to frighten their constituents into voting", Nancy McEldowney, former US Ambassador to Bulgaria, commented in a leaked diplomatic cable from 2009.

Just a couple of days before the cable was released, an outrageous assault on praying Muslims took place in the very heart of the capital Sofia during a rally protesting a mosque's use of loudspeakers, organized by Ataka. The far-right party's flamboyant leader and President wannabe, Volen Siderov, has been enjoying an enormous media attention ever since the accident happened, using his bombastic rhetoric to claim how he is fighting "dangerous Islamist extremists" and even physically attacking an ethnic Turkish MP during a radio talk show.

Almost all Bulgarian politicians were quick to condemn Ataka's violent act and Siderov's subsequent trademark outbursts, including the ruling centrist-right GERB, which is in the delicate position of maintaining a minority government with only the nationalists supporting them.

And of course, it was once again DPS that benefited most from the far-right stupidity. The ethnic Turkish movement has been scaring its constituents into voting for it for more than 20 years now - using as its scarecrow the notorious "revival process", designed by the Communist regime during the 1980's and aiming to re-name all people from the Islamic minorities with Slavic names.

It is doubtful whether Ataka has gained any new activists as a result of the violent rally - but it may have at least calmed down its more radical supporters, who have been angered by Siderov not having done anything too drastic for a while.

To put it in a nutshell, the recent xenophobic assault worked out pretty well for both political formations, "galvanizing" each other's supporters ahead of the upcoming presidential and local elections in the fall.

DPS and Ataka may be different in their genesis, but they share certain similarities - both parties have extremely autocratic leaders and rely mainly on poorly educated constituents, whom they like to threaten with equally preposterous arguments.

Ahmed Dogan, the notorious leader of DPS, initially infiltrated the movement as a secret Communist State Security agent in order to spy on his fellow party members. A cunning and manipulative politician, he has successfully used DPS's "centrist" position and the delicate ethnic peace in Bulgaria to gain high positions ever since the Communist regime fell and the so-called "transition towards democracy" started.

Dogan rarely speaks in public, but is extremely cynical when he does so, openly admitting there is a corporate web surrounding his movement and claiming he is the actual "ruler" of the country. His arrogance has been fueled by the impotent Bulgarian judicial system, which has never come close to proving any of his wrongdoings, even though everybody knows he is using the party for the sake of his own business interests.

Disgusted by Dogan's ways, several DPS members, most notably its former deputy leader Kasim Dal and hot young prospect Korman Ismailov, recently left the party. But Dogan's autocratic leadership seems far from over - in one of his recent public appearances, surrounded by lots of excited supporters, he strongly condemned the renegades' actions and declared that no Bulgarian President could ever be elected without his formation's assistance.

A much younger party, Ataka was created by a couple of journalists working in a low-profile cable TV channel. Filling the previously rather unexploited far-right niche in Bulgaria's politics, the nationalists have already comfortably entered two Bulgarian Parliaments. In her 2009 cable, McEldowney quite accurately describes most of Ataka's supporters as "extremists from the left and right, former army and security officers, and those embittered by the transition to a market economy".

Since its very beginning, Ataka has been using DPS's arrogance to gain a political advantage, even among voters who would never support an attack on praying Muslims in front of a mosque.

Ataka's leader, Volen Siderov, has been pictured mainly as a political clown. His habit to disrupt public events and (mostly verbally) assault his opponents has made the general public perceive him mostly as an annoying and laughable character. But the recent xenophobic assault has shown his political ambition can make him very dangerous.

The main problem with both Ataka and DPS is that both parties are not as marginal as the should have been in a healthier democracy. The ethnic Turkish movement has found its way into a coalition with almost all Bulgarian ruling parties for the last 20 years, while Ataka is currently holding a key position, being GERB's only parliamentary ally.

Getting rid of both parties' political influence is what Bulgaria's voters need to do as soon as possible.

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