site.btaUPDATED Campaign Highlights: March 29

Following are the election campaign highlights for March 29:

Hristo Prodanov from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) said at a meeting with voters in the Neli Bozhkova Hall of Mirrors in Dobrich, northeastern Bulgaria, that Bulgaria needs deliberate regional development policy, According to him, each country develops its economy and the prosperity of its citizens on the basis of what it has available, and agriculture and tourism is what Bulgaria can develop. He shared that he was left with the impression that when the summer season is opened, no one perceives Dobrich as a tourist destination. Everyone talks about Varna and Burgas, and Dobrich is always underestimated, he added. It is necessary to understand that the state is equally responsible for all its citizens and one cannot invest only where many voters live, from which a party will win more votes, Prodanov added.

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Together coalition is working on seven key priorities for Bulgaria, chairwoman of the political formation Iva Miteva said in the BTA press club in Haskovo, southcentral Bulgaria. She listed them as stopping domestic crime and the impoverishment of the Bulgarian people, economic and financial growth, health, education, social policy and local government. Together wanted to include experts and personalities, knowledgeable and capable people, and I think we have managed to achieve this, said Miteva.

According to Valentin Simov, the leader of the list in the Haskovo constituency, the urgent problems of the region are the industry, the chaos at the border crossing "Captain Andreevo", the roads in the region and their safety. Vladimir Nikolov, Together's leader in the lists for Kardzhali and Plovdiv constituencies, said that it is time to sit together and through dialogue outline priorities. He sees the main obstacle in the inability of major parties to understand each other for the benefit of the people.

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The National Movement for Surge and Stability (NMSS) presented its election programme and the candidates for MPs on the list of the 13th Multi-member Constituency in the BTA press club in Pazardzhik, southern Bulgaria. The leader on the list, Todor Todorov, pointed out that NMSS proposes sustainable economic growth and tackling social stress.

Party chairman Stanimir Ilchev indicated that in times of crises, society mobilises and this is the reason why the NMSS is involved in political processes. "Political entities that offer honest dialogue in society succeed, and we always strive for that," Ilchev said. The party's programme is moderately conservative and contains solutions to all issues important for Bulgaria, he added.

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Conservative Alliance of the Right (KOD) defends the principles of right-wing economic policy and values, the possibility to have a state that guarantees the public environment, party chairman Petar Moskov said in the BTA press club in Vidin, northwestern Bulgaria. Thus, KOD's list of MP candidates is comprised of economists and doctors. Moskov blames Bulgaria's bad economic situation on GERB, the caretaker governments, and the government of Kiril Petkov, for leading a socialist economic policy. 

The way out of the crisis lies not in new promises of what money will be given to the people, and how many more compensations, but in the return to the sound principles of the right economic policy, he stressed. Moskov explained that this means to stop using taxes to support businesses of those close to the government and to spend them on schools, infrastructure, hospitals, police. KOD are also for low-cost and secure energy supplies.

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For the past two years, we are going to the polls for the fifth time, because some are drawing dividing lines between each other, putting labels on each other and looking for ways to make one-party and one-person rule, without taking into account what the people say, Mustafa Karadayi, chairman of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, told locals in the village of Buntsevo, southwestern Bulgaria. Karadayi noted that the results of the past four votes make it clear what Bulgarian people want, that no one can rule independently, and the will of the people is to form a government with an understanding to solve people's problems.

The party leader and candidates for MPs from the Blagoevgrad constituency visited Buntsevo, where a memorial plaque with the names of those who died and were repressed during the Bulgarian Revival Process was unveiled. Later, they met with residents of Yakoruda.

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The MIR party candidate for MP Atanas Stefanov said during a press conference at the BTA press club in Sofia that he had been the object of aggression during the election campaign and appealed to the prosecution office and the investigative authorities to take action on the case. The press conference was also attended by MIR's MP candidate Boris Anzov, and Madlena Kircheva, candidate for MP from the Out of the EU and NATO coalition. 

The participants in the press conference said they were against the war in Ukraine and stood for peace. This is not our war, Stefanov said. They expressed their position that they are adamantly against sending Bulgarian soldiers to Ukraine. Majd Algafari drew attention to freedom of speech and said that since Bulgaria ranks last in terms of freedom of speech, thus, Bulgaria is last in terms of democracy.

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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.