To be politically represented - the hopeless hope of the Bulgarian voter

published on 10/27/24 9:35 AM

Photo: AP

On the threshold of the sixth early parliamentary elections in less than three years, the fatigue of the Bulgarian citizens from the administrative hopelessness is visible. This seems to be the case in the political arena as well - proof is the extremely sluggish election campaign. Meetings with candidates for people's representatives were few and not particularly constructive, there is still a lack of real political debate, in which ideas and programs to solve the problems of the citizens can collide. ‎

A short poll by Radio Bulgaria showed that despite their desire to vote, people tend not to find political parties and candidates for people's representatives who offer governance programs close to their understandings and problems. ‎

Vesko Eschkenazy: Elections are very important, sometimes I just can't stand what I see in this country

"The political products on the table do not meet my basic requirements," says Veselin Alexiev, a young architect from Sofia. He specifies that he has always voted, but he does not see the point of today's vote and this hurts his human dignity:

"I don't see any talk at all about social policy, labor rights, etc. We are in an almost 40-year transition, and it seems to me that the political players can no longer get out of this state and their rhetoric. I would like to have a relatively moderate social party that does not have any pretensions, but can ensure basic levels of social services that are not present in Bulgaria. And I don't see any party at the moment that is willing to change that."

The survey we prepared was provoked by a several-hour discussion dedicated to the current political landscape and the attitudes of citizens to exercise their right to vote. It was not by chance that we asked whether it helped those present to navigate the political offer, whether it increased their motivation to go to the polls on election day. It is important for a person to vote if he or she has a clear vision of what he or she wants to do with his vote - Ivo Anev is also convinced.‎

‎"We found that there are opportunities for support, but unfortunately, there is an extremely high reliance on marketing, that is, what people want, and not on some more ideal vision. The parties that have won so far have done it this way. Ultimately, however, there must be one big idea that is leading because it can inspire people to follow the party that expresses it. Creating such an idea is far from a simple task

As a young person connected with a number of public eco-activities in the capital city, Anev has a vision of the steps we need to take on the way to such a unifying idea:‎

"First of all, we need a vision of what we are, what our face is before the world. We are part of the European civilization, some decent part of the world, we have people we can be proud of. However, we must decide if we accept ourselves, because I see that there are constantly some divisions and non-acceptance of something of who we are, and this is counterproductive."‎

According to IT specialist Georgi Chipev, our walk to the polls on Sunday is important - "it is in our interest to have a regular government that solves the problems, which in our country are not few at all. They will not be solved on their own and will not just disappear". But we should not forget a deeper problem, for which we the citizens are also to blame:

"In the previous elections /on June 9 of this year/ it was seen that a huge part of the voters do not feel represented and we can talk about a crisis of democracy. Translated into everyday language, it means that we do not have the rule of the people, which is the meaning of the word democracy. Since 70% of the voters did not find anyone to vote for in the last elections, the problem is not with them, but with the parties which do not know how to offer people something that can be recognized as a policy close to them."‎

The crisis of legitimacy that gives rise to such low public participation and trust in the political process fuels ideas to change the electoral system and even the form of government. But Georgi gives one more touch - if there continues to be a lack of connection between politicians and voters, as we are currently observing, the crisis will remain and whether we are governed by 240 people or only one will be of no real importance.

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Photos: AP, private archive

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