After in the past November Democrats for Strong Bulgaria finally withdrew from the rightist Reformist Bloc, on Thursday its leader Radan Kanev, recent presidential candidate Traycho Traykov and part of the Civic Council of the Reformist Bloc, as well as other "followers of the Bulgarian right" including an MP from GERB party, announced the creation of a new platform called "Nova Republika." The establishment of the platform is a matter of days and it will be open for participation to other formations, civic organizations and individuals.

Before it was set up, Nova Republika made an invitation for joint appearance at the early elections to the party of former justice minister in the “Borisov 2” cabinet, Hristo Ivanov - " Yes, Bulgaria,” which was established on January 7. Reason for the invitation of "New Republic" to "Yes, Bulgaria!" was said to be the common goal of reforming the judiciary, and the desire for a true political alternative and change.

"Yes, Bulgaria" is also open to alliances with other formations, but reacted cautiously to the call. First party leader Hristo Ivanov said that before deciding whether forming a union was possible, he wanted to see the final composition of "New Republic." Later, however, the National Council of "Yes, Bulgaria!" decided to appear alone at the early parliamentary elections and to work for the creation of a broad anti-corruption bloc.

The initiators of the "New Republic" reject the possibility for joint appearance at the elections together with formations that signed the new coalition agreement of the Reformist Bloc because of the bloc’s history of making compromises with GERB. So on the eve of early elections three right-wing formations seem outlined in the rightist space - previous coalition partners GERB and Reformist Bloc that ended prematurely their government mandate and New Republic that pretends to be their alternative. Recent polls forecast support for GERB would reach between 32.2% and 32.6%, while that for the Reformist Bloc will be about 3.7 percent. At this stage a formation gravitating around Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, like "New Republic," would be supported by just 1.4 percent of voters, but no matter how ambitious their goal for being a right-wing alternative may seem, it is not without reason. Tests of Trend Research Center over the potential of a new party show that it could attract about 20 percent of voters.

The chances of success at the elections of rightist "New Republic" and the “Yes, Bulgaria" party, which defines itself as "neither right nor left" and currently enjoys the support of 2.8 percent, lie mainly in this segment of the electorate. Hristo Ivanov says he has no doubts that the new formations are able to enter parliament alone, but it will be in the March.

English: Alexander Markov