Bulgarian Rightists to Stand Alone in 2013 Elections

DSB Deputy Chair Radan Kanev spoke Monday at a press conference about the right-wing party's plans for the 2013 parliamentary elections. Photo by BGNES

The right-wing Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) party is starting preparations for running alone at the 2013 general elections alone, according to senior party officials.

"DSB does not like the rule of GERB and insists on being its alternative," Radan Kanev, DSB Deputy Chair, said Monday at a press conference.

Svetoslav Malinov, the other DSB Deputy Chair, said that the aim was to attract an "as wide as possible" coalition of voters, including both firm supporters of DSB and people disappointed with center-right ruling party GERB.

Malinov announced that some 130 people from Sofia, Varna, Vidin and Gorna Oryahovitsa had joined DSB's ranks in the past week.

He interpreted the step as a response to the decision of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) to split from the Blue Coalition to run alone at the 2013 parliamentary elections.

"We want a stable political union based on DSB's platform, which will stand up for its policies," Kanev specified.

He noted that the Blue Coalition could not exist without the UDF because it would not be accepted as "something honest" by the citizens.

"Stealing a brand is not our style," the DSB Deputy Chair stated.

Kanev went on to admit that DSB could develop some ideas from the Blue Coalition.

Senior DSB members announced that the final decision for DSB's participation at the 2103 general elections would be taken at a June 30 national congress of the party.

They explained that the election platform would stress an economic policy that would unite right-wing voters and people seeking an alternative to GERB.

The DSB representatives were adamant that the election campaign would not send a signal of divisiveness.

They added that the aim was to have the lists of candidates ready in October so that the people could get well acquainted with the nominees.

"Money is not decisive; it is crucial to those who buy votes," Svetoslav Malinov explained, without specifying how much DSB would spend on the election campaign.

DSB member Dimitar Boyadzhiev was positive that the 2013 elections would be successful for the right-wing formation.

He stated that DSB would certainly make it into the next parliament and would also offer top solutions for emerging from the crisis.

The Blue Coalition was established on the eve of the general elections in 2009.

Strong rifts in the coalition emerged before the presidential and municipal elections in Bulgaria in end-October 2011, when the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and former Bulgarian PM (1997-2001) Ivan Kostov's Democrats for Strong Bulgaria failed to reach consensus on the candidates.

The Blue Coalition, which currently has 14 MPs in Parliament (out of 240), scored a disastrous performance at the 2011 elections.

Bulgarian polling agencies suggest that if DSB and UDF run alone at the 2013 general elections, their chances of passing the 4% threshold needed to enter Parliament are negligible.

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