Bulgarian Opposition Outraged by Rulers' Intelligence Gathering on Opponents

Bulgarian Socialist Party leader Sergey Stanishev (left) pictured with MP Meglena Plugchieva. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's ruling center-right party GERB has launched a secret campaign to gather intelligence information about other parties' candidates for the upcoming local and presidential elections, according to the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party.

The party of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has created a structure similar to the former State Security (DS), or the secret police and intelligence service of the former communist regime, according to Socialist MP Meglena Plugchieva.

During Saturday's meeting of the National Council of the Socialist Party, Plugchieva, a former Deputy PM in the Stanishev Cabinet in 2008-2009, revealed that people from the city of Ruse have leaked to her GERB's intelligence gathering paperwork that she showed.

The paperwork contains 81 personal questions about each opponent candidate for mayor or city councilor whose answers GERB activists are expected to dig up.

The questionnaire is entitled "Creating Files and Gathering Information about Opponents and Their Plans". It requires information about a candidate's religion, school nickname, education, topics of senior theses, properties, marriages, former spouses, children, school friends, ties with businesspeople, trade unions, and even whether the respective person is superstitious and believes in paranormal phenomena, whether they are prone to drinking alcoholic beverages, what bars and restaurants they like, what is their favorite food, and what their height and weight are.

Plugchieva further said photos of the opponent candidates were also required to be attached to their "files" compiled by GERB party activists.

"I personally construe this information gathering as monstrous and unprecedented, and a threat to the democratic nature of the upcoming elections. I think it is absurd to collect such personal data about one's political opponents in an EU country," Plugchieva declared.

"Both the European Parliament and the ambassadors of the EU member states need to be informed about this, and the Bulgarian society must counter this gruesome way of cracking down on citizens' democratic rights," she insisted, and was backed immediately in her demand by BSP leader Sergey Stanishev and MEP Kristian Vigenin.

Plugchieva demanded a thorough investigation about the scale to which GERB activists have utilized the intelligence gathering questionnaire.

"This is very serious and once its authenticity is proven, serious steps must be taken in and outside Bulgaria. I am not surprised because GERB demonstrated many times that they will use state power for party purposes," Stanishev said.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!