Maybe we should put on sackcloth and ashes. Maybe we should have put Plamen Oresharski under a magnifying glass a year ago. Then maybe his behavior over the past 421 days as Prime Minister would have been better understood. But it is still better late than never.

"I'm not a politician," Prime Minister Oresharski said at the beginning of the year in a TV interview. Maybe Wikipedia will agree with this in its article about him and will add July 24, 2014 as the date he resigned. Oresharski stepped into office on May 29, 2013. Wikipedia will probably not define him as "a faceless politician" and "puppet minister", but many Bulgarians will remember him for this behavior. Most Bulgarians also remember another date - June 14, 2013, when a non-transparent appointment, the result of backroom games, made thousands of people flood the streets of Sofia, calling for Oresharski’s immediate resignation.

What was the policy conducted by Oresharski? Are his political views leftist or rightist? There are no clear answers to these questions even today. Mr. Oresharski has been part of the political life of this country for 12 years. In 2002, the future prime minister of the socialist government was Vice-President of rightist Union of Democratic Forces and before that he was Deputy Minister of Finance in a right-wing government. In 2003 he was candidate for mayor of Sofia, erected again by UDF, but after awkward meetings with senior representatives of the gray economy he was elegantly removed. Two years later a 180-degree political turn followed – Oresharski became Minister of Finance under socialist Stanishev. Despite the fact he was not a member of the Bulgarian Socialist Party the non-politician was elected as MP from the list of the socialist party. Finally, he became a premier in an “expert” cabinet.

Oresharski has been on high positions in two opposing political camps – a lot of politicians could only dream of such a political career.

But perhaps the answer to the question why Oresharski was selected by the Socialists to head a coalition cabinet with MRF, without a coalition agreement, lies exactly in his political career. Such type of politicians is useful for backroom political games. And Oresharski played the role of a puppet without error. On Thursday, the non-politician left the political stage. It is not clear how long this would last. Maybe the next non-politician is ready to take his position. It would be better to put candidates under the magnifying glass before they occupied high-level positions.

English: Alexander Markov