Bulgaria: a non-representative “democracy” case, part 1 w/ Bozhin Traykov

“On the Barricades” s06e47

With threat of war at its doorstep, on April 2 Bulgaria saw its fifth parliamentary election in two years. The result is much similar to the dysfunctional results of the last four: a vote iikely too fragmented across contesting parties to allow formation of a ruling coalition government. Only 40% of Bulgarians turned out to vote, one percent more than time’s record low 39%, and the bulk of votes went to two establishment blocks which so far refuse to work together and instead compete for least evil. Right-wing GERB, known as the mafia lynchpin with boorish Boiko Borisov at the head, returns to highest vote recipient, a first since the initial snap election two years ago that ended his some 12-year rule. GERB inched ahead of the conglomeration of pro-West and heavily pro-Ukraine bidders based on Democratic Bulgaria and We Continue the Change (PP) parties.

Boyan speaks to Bozhin Traykov, a political commentator, analyst, journalist and teacher in Bulgaria, to get us up to date on where this election result puts Bulgaria and how it got into this deep morass. In this first release of two, they discuss the political landscape in general, and why the mood is so disaffected among the electorate— based on the total void of credibility among the traditional or even recently-formed parties. What is the significance of this election being framed as a “civilizational choice” of whether to absolutely support the West in the Ukraine proxy war? Boyan and Bozhin explain the massive void on the Left, owing to the self-annihilation of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which has a 100 year history but for the last 20-30 years has a record of embracing neoliberalism and imperialism. This and more.