PES President Needs Catharsis - Ex Bulgarian President

Former Bulgarian President and Socialist Party leader Georgi Parvanov (C) speaks at a special press conference in Sofia Tuesday. Photo by BGNES

The Bulgarian Socialist Party and its leader Sergey Stanishev need a thoroughgoing rethinking of their political behavior, stated former socialist leader and Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.

Tuesday at a special press conference in Sofia Parvanov officially announced that his informal ABV organization will run its own MEP list for the upcoming European Elections 2014 in May.

Ivaylo Kalfin, a top S&D MEP from the Bulgarian Socialist Party, has announced his decision to run as ABV's top candidate.

The move has stirred a controversy among the Socialists' ranks, with many viewing it as a stab in the back.

In 2012, Parvanov - who chaired the Bulgarian Socialist Party before being elected for his first term as Bulgaria's President - in 2001, led an unsuccessful campaign to regain the chair position from Sergey Stanishev.

Since then, Stanishev has been elected president of the Party of European Socialists (PES).

In his address Tuesday, Parvanov criticized the Socialist Party under Stanishev's leadership for failing to live up to socialist beliefs and for betraying their voters, which he said has resulted in the Socialists' poor showing at a number of recent elections in Bulgaria.

"In the past, I always said - let us not worry the party. But this time over, I stand before all its voters, calling: let us stir the party - let us make it worry for its subjective, wrong and risky decisions," said the former President.

In particular, Parvanov singled out Stanishev's support for the controversial candidacy of media mogul and coalition partner MP Delyan Peevski as head of Bulgaria's National Security - a move that stirred strong anti-cabinet protests over the summer, which have only recently abated.

The former BSP leader, much like protesters, suggested that Peevski's nomination shows the Socialists' dependence on shady business structures.

According to Parvanov, his move will actually provide a healing stimulus for the Socialist Party to undergo an inner transformation.

He was resolute that he does not intend to turn the ABV movement into a formal party, nor to stir division among party ranks.

Parvanov rejected all accusations of "treason" coming from the ranks of BSP functionaries.

"Traitors are those who betrayed commitments to voters. Those who falsified the voice of citizens, for they voted for something completely different than what they are getting now," stated the former Bulgarian President.

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