Glossary says compromise is “a settlement of differences in which each side makes concessions”. Compromise has become a common word for the Bulgarian political vocabulary and it will last. Thanks to mutual compromises, the current government was formed – it is said to be center-right with a leftist flavor. Representatives of the rightist GERB and Reformist Bloc, along with the leftist ABR are members of the cabinet. The vote of the nationalist Patriotic Front supports the cabinet as well.

“The question is to what an extent mutual compromises are allowable, in terms of political logics and morality and how justified those are on the one hand, and on the other – are they profitable for parties and the country,” said in an interview for RB Associate Prof. Daniel Smilov from the Centre for Liberal Strategies.

According to him, the Patriotic Front has entered in a really strong series of candidatures and moves that can be characterized as leading to inadmissible compromise. In the course of three weeks the patriots threatened with the withdrawal of their support due to the appointments of Orkhan Ismail for a deputy defense minister and of Vesselin Penev for a district governor of Sofia. Both have been nominated by the Freedom and Dignity People’s Party, which is part of the Reformist Bloc. The negativism of the Patriotic Front towards that party and its nominations is based on the fact that it consists of former members of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. “If they had made the compromise, the ruling might have lost their reputation, but the fall was avoided. However, now they are about to do it through the removal of the news in Turkish, broadcast by Channel 1 of the BNT,” Daniel Smilov says.

“The admissible compromise is the one that doesn’t violate basic principles of democracy,” Smilov goes on to say. “Of course, there might be different points of view on the policy conducted – for instance on the level of taxes, or about social benefits. In such cases compromises are not only allowable, but compulsory and necessary. It was announced that the Reformist Bloc had contracted with the Patriotic Front the support for the establishment of a “Who?” parliamentary committee at the expense of the Turkish news’ dropping. Yes, such a committee is definitely necessary, but the justified compromise should be admissible at first place. This one is not. That is why further conversations should be tried, with the active participation of GERB. A committee, investigating the corporate and media dependencies in this country is of key importance and it is one of the policies that could justify the further rule of the current coalition."

“What would be the justified compromise? It is clear that the four governing parties are quite different from each other. Many of their voters find it hard to accept such a coalition. So, how can the government persuade such people that the compromises are necessary? Here is where the governing program comes. What exactly does this government support? Do they promise reforms? A clear stance on South Stream is necessary, also reforms in the systems of justice, education and healthcare, the administration etc. These are some of the most important dimensions – policies and reforms that would make the current coalition not only an allowable, but also a justified compromise. It all requires a lot of work and also the pressure and support of the citizens,” said in an interview for Radio Bulgaria Associate Prof. Daniel Smilov from the Centre for Liberal Strategies.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev

Доц. Даниел Смилов: „Допустимите компромиси са тези, които не нарушават базови принципи на демокрацията”.