Restoring confidence in the institutions, which is based on transparency and morality, is an indispensable first step towards overcoming the critical situation in the country, read the priorities of the caretaker cabinet with Prime Minister Prof. Georgi Bliznashki. The cabinet, appointed by President Rossen Plevneliev will bring a new momentum to the pressing reforms in the country. The ongoing dialogue with the European partners on the administration of the operational programmes this and over the next programming period up to 2020, will deepen. Bulgaria will also make efforts towards fulfilling its commitments as a NATO ally. The priorities and tasks of the caretaker government are outlined in six spheres, the first of them being the holding of elections for the 43^rd National Assembly. The bulk of priorities comprise measures in the economy and measures in the rule of law, internal order, security and defence. Steps have also been outlined in the sphere of social and health protection, education, culture and sports, transparency in the administration, interaction with the civil society.

“The caretaker government will endeavour to convey the idea of stability and will make a revision. The reason for the latter is that the situation in the country is complicated and it needs to play it safe,” says political analyst Purvan Simeonov, Director of Gallup International, Bulgaria.

“It seems to me that this government is paving the way for the next, most probably right-of-centre cabinet,” he goes on to say. “For this reason some of the tasks are being set down in the hope that the next administration will continue them, maybe with some of the caretaker ministers. This government has things to do that are not inherent to an interim government – the financial agreement with the EU, drafting the budget for next year, nominating a Bulgarian EU commissioner, taking the first steps towards the country’s joining the Single Supervisory Mechanism.”

“What made an impression on me were the four deputy prime ministers. They outline the priorities President Plevneliev sets great store by,” says on his part Ass. Prof. Daniel Smilov, programme director of the Centre for Liberal Strategies at the St. Kliment Ohridski University, Sofia. “And they are: absorbing European funds, a law-governed state with Minister Hristo Ivanov – an expert in the sphere of judicial reform with an excellent reputation, as well as modernization of the country, regional development and spatial planning. Thus, the president is trying to outline the spheres he thinks are top priority in the hope of conveying a message to the next, regular government and the next parliament regarding the ideas the caretaker cabinet is set to implement. The caretaker cabinet has 2-3 months, so any radical change in the country’s policies is out of the question. Its tasks are limited. One of them is to provide real information about the state of certain administrative sectors. It often happens in this country that the outgoing governments paint a picture of what they are leaving behind in rosier hues.”

“The ambitious programme of the caretaker government is the result of two very important factors. First – President Plevneliev’s growing political ambition and self-confidence. And second – this cabinet is trying to legitimize itself through the protest movement. Premier Georgi Bliznashki, Vice-Premier and Minister of Justice Hristo Ivanov and Minister of Culture Martin Ivanov are all emblematic protest figures,” says Purvan Simeonov.

“Many of the other cabinet members have also taken part in the protest, directly or indirectly. The fact that the “protest is coming to power”, as the media put it, is one of the things that lend this government its aura of ambition. And this leads me to think that both President Plevneliev and Premier Bliznashki will continue their political career. The latter’s political profile is very distinct, as he is positioned on the left politically where there is a vacuum for a “moral left” and a “Euro left”.

“Is this a government of the protest? These people were not appointed because they took part in the protests,” says Daniel Smilov. “Each one has a sound biography as an expert. Starting with Prof. Bliznashki and ending with Martin Ivanov who was director of the State Archives and is a talented young historian. On the other hand – imagine a situation in which most of Bulgaria’s publicly recognizable figures have taken up a position in one direction or the other, with no one from the protests being included in the cabinet. Everyone has been saying how great it is to see civil society awakening. But it suddenly turns out that if an expert or a professional gets involved in this civil awakening, they must be disqualified from occupying public positions. The President made his position clear with regard to the events in the country in the past year and I have no qualms about his assessment of this episode in Bulgaria’s history.”

English version: Milena Daynova