site.btaCampaign Highlights: March 28

Following are the election campaign highlights for March 28:

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Actor and director Vladislav Karamfilov (Vargala) met with citizens in front of a BSP for Bulgaria tent in Stara Zagora to state his reasons against the entry of "gender ideology" in Bulgarian schools. Karamfilov is part of the Initiative Committee for holding a referendum against the entry of "gender ideology" in Bulgarian schools, supported by the BSP.

"I am not party affiliated, but I stand here before you without any remorse and with a clear conscience. This initiative has been created for is much more important reasons than any political bias," the actor said. 

He added that political parties should unite people and the initiative of BSP leader Korneliya Ninova is non-partisan. "This issue does not concern only Bulgaria, it concerns the whole world, because at the moment personalities are being depersonalized," Karamfilov added. He described this ideology as a "provocation".

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GERB-UDF leader Boyko Borissov said in Yambol, Southeastern Bulgaria, that no stable government could be formed without GERB's participation.

Borissov said: "In the last two years, in which GERB has not governed, Bulgaria has been dragged into a debt spiral, road maintenance and construction have been totally neglected, and migrant pressure has increased dramatically". Borissov suggested that Kiril Petkov, Assen Vassilev, and Boyko Rashkov were stealing BGN 10 million for a year through fuel schemes.

GERB's ballot leader for Yambol, Dimitar Ivanov, said: "Politics is a responsibility to the people, not a school for amateurs. GERB has the experts to steer the country out of the crises".

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Hristo Petrov of the coalition Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) said in Burgas, on the Black Sea, that when people do not use their right to vote, evil wins. Petrov said: "Most people do not ask questions. They would rather talk and complain - mostly about prices. Inflation happened across Europe. In Bulgaria it was felt quite strongly because our country has been the poorest in the EU for 12 years."

Petrov believes that the people must realize that there is no saviour. He said: "Progress can happen when each of us does what is in their power to move things forward, instead of having 20 people in the country, whose pockets are getting stuffed, as was happening during GERB's rule."

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Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) leader Mustafa Karadayi said in the village of Kornitsa, Southwestern Bulgaria, that while touring the country his party heard of the following problems - high inflation, high prices, job insecurity, insufficient incomes. Karadayi's party makes a clear commitment to address these issues.

The MRF's priorities include effective and targeted use of the EU funds provided to Bulgaria, support for vulnerable groups of the population, affordable healthcare, high-quality education for young people, predictable business environment that facilitates growth, judicial reform to ensure an independent and effective judiciary.

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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.