He is young, well-educated man and he is the author of four books. He has decided to stay in his native Bulgaria and popularize its history in a new way that is also attractive for teenagers. His name is Ivan Kanchev, one of the founders of the "Bulgarian History" Association and a man who calmly and carefully reminds us that the story we are writing does not start from our own page, our own point of view, or selfish interests. At the start of a new story line in the development of political life of Bulgaria, in which Bulgarians will participate on October 2, it is probably a good idea to recall this. Each of us is a co-author of the story we live in. One of our great responsibilities is exercising the right to vote, which many have been taking for granted, while it is of extreme importance for our lives, Ivan Kanchev says in an interview with Radio Bulgaria.
"This is the way I can explain the attitudes in our society, because the reality is truly unpleasant. It is even a bit scary to me. Unfortunately, we have been observing an extremely unpleasant trend of less and less interest in politics present in society. We are talking about generally low political interest, especially when it comes to the younger generation. A new generation is growing up and it is extremely far away from politics and does not want to exercise its right to vote or participate in what is happening. At the beginning of the 1990s, political engagement in Bulgaria reached record-high levels, even higher than those during the times of the monarchy. All this is now being lost, disappearing, and this process is largely irreversible, according to me.”
Did you know that there was a period in Bulgarian history after 1879 when voting in elections was not only mandatory, but fines were also imposed on those who did not exercise their right to vote? Ivan Kanchev supports such a measure, although it is not of particularly democratic nature.
These days, however, we can often see street graffiti like "Elections don't change anything. If they did, they would have been banned." Far-fetched political rhetoric, unfulfilled promises and the difficult life of the Bulgarians has pushed them further away from the polls... “The forgotten yesterday is repeated tomorrow,” Ivan says and adds that if one thing in human history is certain, it is that the elections are extremely important for the development of a society.
"If we go back in time, we can see that even in one of the first elections held in this country, there were manipulations. Despite such attempts, it is clear that if people unite around a political force and idea - the choice cannot be changed. We have lost that sense that something depends on our vote and I think the social divide has reached such a level that we have started speaking only to like-minded people. We are united in our own social circles and it is very difficult for us to reach out to others and express our point of view and hear the others.”
The reason can also be seen in the individualism of Bulgarians. According to Ivan Kanchev, this is precisely one of the reasons for the failure of coalition governments in Bulgarian history, including the last one.
"The other reason is the lack of democratic traditions in this country," the young historian says. “We often forget how the democrats in Europe manage to govern in broad coalitions and we do not really realize that we have a democratic history of about 70 years - after the Liberation until 1944 and from 1989 to this day. This is a very short time in historical terms. Let’s not forget the world-wide phenomenon of our time of becoming more and more selfish as individuals and as a society. Some call it a characteristic feature of the times, I call it a problem, and here it is even more acute. All this combined creates a vicious cycle of jumping from one political crisis to another, caused simply by the unwillingness to hear and accept the others.”
However, the story continues to be written. This Sunday, Ivan Kanchev will cast his vote in the elections for 48th National Assembly of Bulgaria.
"I have not missed a single election, but I admit that this time it is more difficult for me as I am not sure if the things that I believe in can be protected, but I will vote because it must be done," he says.
English: Al. Markov
Phoos: personal library, Ani Petrova
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