site.btaUPDATED Campaign Highlights: March 31

Following are the election campaign highlights for March 31:

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) congratulates the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) for its decisive action. It is high time there was a real investigation, trial and accountability for the thieves of public funds from the poorest nation in Europe, BSP leader Korneliya Ninova said in Smolyan, southcentral Bulgaria, on the occasion of the actions of the EPPO representation in Sofia. BSP closed its election campaign with a meeting in Smolyan.

Candidate list leader for the region Georgi Mihaylov pointed out that this region has been abandoned by the state. He noted that Smolyan has lost its ore mining, it is constantly losing its water resources, it has lost its children who are leaving it.

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Our main commitment is to put Bulgaria back on the path of stability and development, said leading candidate of GERB-UDF in Shumen Krassimir Valchev at a conference in the local BTA press club. It was attended by MP candidates from the coalition, who summarized the wishes and concerns of the local people, expressed during the pre-election meetings with them. The local priorities of GERB-UDF are related to industrial and technological development, education, agriculture and infrastructure, Valchev said. 

The formation of a regular government is the biggest request of the people, said Ralitsa Todorova, third MP candidate on the list. "Every vote cast for GERB-UDF is a vote for a regular government. Let's bring stability back to Bulgaria again, on April 2, with ballot number two," she said. Valchev expressed his confidence that GERB-UDF has the biggest potential to form a stable, working and responsible government.

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There Is Such a People (TISP) closed its election campaign with a programme on its leader Slavi Trifonov's TV channel, 7/8 TV, titled "The State - That's You". The purpose of TISP being in Parliament is to exercise control, it transpired from TISP candidates' replies to why they want to become MPs. Trifonov said that there should be control over the MPs, because one party cannot win majority in Parliament, there need to be coalitions, or the opposition itself needs control in order to be active and objective.

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The Together Coalition closed its election campaign with its candidate leaders in Sofia.

Coalition co-Chair Iva Miteva thanked the party chairpersons who are behind the registration of the alliance and have allowed the experts to go forward. She also thanked the candidates who joined the lists. "We have managed to prove that integrity and can-do is not wanting in Bulgaria", Miteva said. Co-chair Lyubomir Karimanski said the three main things in his life were trust, love and responsibility.

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With a prayer for health and prosperity for the Bulgarian people, the National Movement for Surge and Stability (NMSS) closed its election campaign in Varna on Friday. The event was celebrated by priests of St. Nicholas church.

We are closing with a prayer because Bulgarians are a Christian people, said Varna leading candidate Nasko Rafailov. In his words, the NMSS campaign has been as fair as possible and therefore it is right to end it in the same way - with good and prayer that our nation will be blessed. 

Rafailov called on Bulgarians to vote reasonably, thinking about the past, the present and the capacity of MP candidates. Rafailov also said that he expects early parliamentary elections to occur again due to difficulties in forming and maintaining a government and expected tensions around upcoming local elections.

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Candidates for MPs for the 16th and 17th constituency election commissions from the Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) alliance closed their election campaign with a meeting with citizens in front of the coalition's tent on the main street in Plovdiv, central Bulgaria. It is very important that we are first and by a wide margin, so that it can be seen which is the political force that has the trust of the Bulgarian citizens, Nikola Minchev, leader of the coalition's list for Plovdiv-city, told supporters. He pointed out that he believes this will be CC-DB, and there is no doubt the results for Plovdiv.

The closing ceremony was attended by all the candidates for MPs of the alliance for the 16th and 17th constituencies.

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Bulgarian Rise closed their campaign with a concert and wreath laying in front of the Unification monument in Plovdiv. 

Party leader Stefan Yanev said their campaign emphasized on the reason, dialogue and the need for agreement both between political forces and between Bulgarians as a whole, in order to pursue development. In his words, the party will uphold the principles of necessary interaction between political forces and the principles of morality.

Yanev also highlighted the party's programme in the economic and social sectors, emphasizing on the observance of the rules to enable the development of Bulgarian business and the implementation of meaningful social policies. He urged Bulgarian citizens to be reasonable, to listen to their hearts and to vote for the future of Bulgaria.

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The sequence of the campaign highlights featured in this report follows the ballot numbers of the 21 contestants in the April 2 snap parliamentary elections.