Bulgarian Maverick Reformist Tables New Social Contract

Right-wing Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) leader Radan Kanev on Saturday called on party members and the civil society to embrace his proposal for a union "around values."

At a party congress over the weekend, Kanev proposed the document called "Contract for New Bulgarian Republic" which has to unite around issues that have kept Bulgarians together since the times the country was liberated from the Ottoman Empire in the 1870s.

The "charter" must serve as means to protect freedom of speech and secure intependent prosecution, strong armed forces and an efficient diplomacy.

"We will not allow for Bulgarian nature to be destroyed by oligarchs," news website Dnevnik.bg also quotes Kanev as saying.

"We are calling for a union. The time is now for the majority to unite."

Kanev's DSB was part of the Reformist Bloc, a loose coalition of centrist and right-wing parties that was a junior partner in the outgoing Bulgarian government. In December of last year, however, he announced DSB would move into opposition.

Earlier in November, he declared his intention to bid farewell to the Reformist Bloc itself, calling other bloc leaders "conformists" due to their decision to firmly stand behind the government and the main ruling GERB party.

The seven-point charter includes issues such as rights and freedoms, the primacy of national interest over oligarchy, a fair and just use of taxpayers' money and the establishment of "the rule of law, strong national institutions, a small and independent administration turned to citizens, families and businesses."

It also comprises steps toward an independent anti-corruption prosecutor's office and improvement in education and healthcare.

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