Bulgarians’ patience with those in power is wearing increasingly thin

The Bulgarian parliament is resuming its work after the summer recess, and exactly one month from now the month-long election campaign ahead of the presidential vote, scheduled for October 25, will officially begin.

The new political season promises to be a turbulent one. Against the backdrop of expectations and pledges by the current Bulgarian government to introduce reforms as part of the 2027 state budget, the key questions are whether Prime Minister Rumen Radev’s party, “Progressive Bulgaria”, will succeed in convincing its supporters that change will indeed take place, and how parliamentary life will be affected by the presidential election campaign. Political scientist and university lecturer Assoc. Prof. Tatiana Burudzhieva analysed the situation in an interview with BNR Plovdiv.

According to her, the candidacies announced so far do not signal a change in political life, “because traditionally in Bulgaria the governing party has its own president”. She also commented on the amendments to the Election Code adopted by the government, which, in her view, raise doubts as to whether the election results will fully reflect the will of voters:

“The doubts will constantly weigh on the newly elected president, whoever he or she may be, that they were not elected entirely in accordance with the will of the voters. Moreover, expectations are focused primarily on the executive branch, on what it has promised its sympathisers, its supporters and the people who did so much to help make this campaign happen. They are now waiting for results and for their assistance to be reciprocated, just as voters expect something in return for the votes they have cast, as do the various economic circles of the oligarchy that has now been defeated. So everything is focused primarily on what exactly will happen. And the great advantage, I would say, of this government is that they constantly present things in such a way that we have to interpret them ourselves.”

Burudzhieva said the main challenge facing the government during the new political season would be delivering on its commitments, particularly in the areas of incomes, reforms and the fight against corruption. She described the wording of the government programme as overly broad. In her view, this allows different social and economic groups to identify with the stated objectives, but provides insufficient clarity as to how they will actually be achieved. She added:

“We have to wait for the actions and see their results before we can determine whether the promises are actually being kept.”

The political scientist stressed that the first 100 days of a government are the period when, if it has a political majority, the most decisive steps should be taken. In her view, the absence of such action casts doubt on the pre-election message of “Progressive Bulgaria”: “We are ready.”

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Support for the government could decline rapidly if people’s expectations of higher incomes are not met, the political scientist predicted, warning also of the risk of another rise in prices:

“But for the greater part of society, patience, in my view, is a rather scarce resource. If in previous years such a government could count on the comfort of at least one full term, with a second one at least on the horizon, it seems to me that mobility, movement, the new world, communication, which is very different, and the fact that people now expect something quite different from politicians, above all this dwindling patience, which demands that things happen here, today and now, rather than in some deferred hypothetical future, will play a cruel trick on those in power.”

According to Assoc. Prof. Burudzhieva, if the government fails to pursue a convincing income policy, protests and further alienation of society from those in power can be expected. The political scientist added that the restrictions which, in her view, have been introduced through the amendments to the Election Code could heighten social tensions rather than provide an opportunity for those tensions to be expressed through democratic means. Burudzhieva was categorical:

“You cannot seal a pressure cooker shut by preventing it from being opened and allowing the steam to escape in any way", says Assoc. Prof. Burudzhieva.

English version: R. Petkova