Monday was the first workday of the new Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev that ran for the presidency after he had been singled out by the ruling GERB Party. The handover of power by his predecessor Georgi Parvanov, former leader of the main opposition party, BSP, was held on Sunday and went on with unusual stateliness. The ceremony took close to two hours and featured a high-profile involvement of the National Guards. The importance of this protocol change has to do with the ambition of the new head of state to boost the prestige of the presidential institution flawed by a constitutional inconsistency. It boils down to the relatively limited and more like representative powers of the president of the Republic coupled with the way he is elected – by way of a direct popular vote, unlike other high positions in Bulgarian politics.
Resting on the moral prestige of this direct election all three predecessors of Mr Plevneliev since 1990, had to make important decisions and offset the Executive. In their speeches during the official ceremony of power handover that took place in the central square outside St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral, both the new president and the outgoing one demonstrated unanimity about the increasingly important role that the head of state should have in Bulgaria’s political affairs.
The handover of power took place at the edge of two eras. While the former president Parvanov was lucky to be in charge for as long as two terms of office in the times of Bulgaria’s economic progress when the country joined both NATO and EU, his successor Plevneliev takes over in the presidency amidst the global financial and economic crisis that has threatened the stability of the European Union itself. Will the 47-year-old technocrat endure the tension? He has got no political biography but ran a two-year very successful term as minister of regional development. Plevneliev has shown robust ambition – he wants to be a politician of a new, communicative and pragmatic kind with a contribution into making Bulgaria “an averagely prosperous European country with a competitive economy, where people live with dignity”.
Rosen Plevneliev’s confidence springs from the roots of Bulgarian history and its lessons.
“Our history is the history of a nation that founded one of the earlier states in Europe; a nation that lives at a crossroads of civilizations; a nation that comes across as a symbol of multiculturalism and ethnic tolerance”, the new president said in his address, and added: “The past has taught us that we have been successful only when we have been together and have hammered out our future on our own. Therefore as president I will seek union, not division. I will be working with a vision for the future by pursuing consensus on the national priorities of Bulgaria. Europe has its 2020 Program. Bulgaria will also draw up its national program for development until 2020 – we are going to formulate it through a broad public debate. After all citizens have the right to determine the agenda of institutions, and to require from politicians to act consistently, openly and efficiently. There is no doubt that Bulgaria will develop; the question is how fast we are going to progress towards the attainment of our national goals – worthy EU membership, an averagely prosperous country with a developed economy, and with good quality education; a state that is a good place for its people and where young people remain to live because they can see a promising future.”
What do Bulgarians expect from their new president? Here are a few opinions taken during the ceremony of the handover of power.
Miroslav Pavlov, technician:
I expect President Plevneliev to be fair, meaning he won’t be the president of one party but president of the whole of Bulgaria.
Nikola Starev, university student:
I expect the new president to break the status quo; to ventilate, as he vowed, the presidency, and to emerge as a politician of a new kind. I hope that his vow for calling referenda on important issues in Bulgaria will become reality.
Dimitar Kolev, expert at Ecosystem Project 2003:
The president does not have much power, but I still expect him to invest in the presidential institution the same enthusiasm that he demonstrated while he was cabinet minister. I hope he will do what is necessary for the improvement of the judicial system of the country.
Lilia, unemployed mother of two:
I expect many good things but I am a bit skeptical. I hope that all that he said in his speech will become reality. I expect that unemployment will decrease and we and our children will live normal live.
Translated by Daniela Konstantinova
