site.btaBSP-United Left Highlights Political Gains, Social Reforms at National Conference

Participants in the national conference BSP–United Left: Successes and Challenges, held in Stara Zagora on Friday, heard addresses from Deputy Prime Minister and BSP National Council Chair Atanas Zafirov, Social Policy Minister and BSP National Council Executive Board Chair Borislav Gutsanov, and National Assembly Chair Nataliya Kiselova, who is standing on the coalition’s civic quota in Sofia.

Overall, BSP-United Left is positioning itself as both a stabilizing force and a driver of progressive reforms within a politically complex coalition environment, the speakers said.

Deputy PM Zafirov stressed that BSP's participation in government, even alongside right-wing parties, is currently the only viable way for left-wing policies to be implemented. He highlighted the coalition’s recent electoral gains and its pivotal role in stabilizing Bulgaria’s political situation. “For the first time after a series of shocks and declines, we managed to realize an upward trend, albeit by about 30,000 votes, but the united left managed to increase its result”, he said.

Social Policy Minister Gutsanov announced a major investment of nearly BGN 800 million from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan into social services. This includes renovating all 81 elderly care homes serving 5,600 people, launching 254 new social services, cracking down on illegal care homes, with 12 shut down and 400 people rescued from poor conditions. "We are opening 254 new services. This is the most large-scale change that has been made in this area now," Gutsanov said.

Before the start of the conference, National Assembly Chair Kiselova defended her position amid opposition calls for resignation, suggesting they are politically motivated. She noted progress in advancing toward eurozone entry, renewing long-expired public body mandates, implementing steps under the Recovery Plan. 

"The topic of the Anti-Corruption Commission is going from one extreme to the other, namely from electing the most honest people to closing the commission down because we did not nominate them," Kiselova said. She added that no extraordinary parliamentary session is needed in August, as procedures for nominations are in place. Major unresolved issues will be addressed after the summer recess.