site.btaYes, Bulgaria Stresses Urgent Need to Replace Regional Police Chiefs Nationwide

Speaking at a news conference at BTA's National Press Club in Kardzhali on Saturday, Yes, Bulgaria MPs Nadejda Iordanova, Bozhidar Bozhanov, and Martin Dimitrov said that there was an urgent need to replace the current directors of the regional police departments across the country, and they expected this to happen as soon as possible. They argued that their demand was driven by the fact that the current directors had been appointed by Kalin Stoyanov, who has since joined the ranks of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning.

As to the replacement of regional governors, that decision rests with the Prime Minister, they said, adding that this would signal that vote-buying, election fraud, and other such practices must be stopped for elections to be fair and for these practices to finally remain in the past.

Yes, Bulgaria was adamant that if the replacements do not occur, the party will publicly demand accountability.

“The caretaker cabinet has committed to fair elections, and I believe it will fulfill this by stopping any pressure on citizens and any pressure on businesses, which is extremely important for us,” Iordanova said.

The MPs also commented on the attacks on their political entity regarding the high-profile Petrohan–Okolchitsa case in which five men and a 15-year-old boy met a violent death in early February. They described the attacks as yet another example of how “a captured state uses propaganda tools to smear its political opponents.“ Martin Dimitrov described it as an attempt to distract from key political issues. He noted that, according to Transparency International, Bulgaria has experienced peak levels of corruption over the past 15 years, during the last government — an issue that has not been part of public debate.

The MPs also touched on the resignation of caretaker Deputy Prime Minister for Fair Elections Stoil Tzitzelkov. “After showing that this propaganda attack was entirely political, aimed at leaving no doubt about the fairness of the elections, he resigned,” Bozhanov said.

Iordanova, Bozhanov, and Dimitrov visited Kardzhali to meet with local businesses. Regarding the upcoming elections and candidate lists, they said the nomination process had begun earlier in the week.