site.btaSocial Democrats Political Movement Exits BSP-United Left Coalition

The Social Democrats Political Movement is leaving the BSP - United Left coalition, Elena Noneva, the movement's chairperson, said at a press conference at the Bulgarian News Agency's National Press Club in Sofia on Tuesday.

"Today, we officially informed our coalition partners in BSP – United Left that we are leaving the coalition," Noneva said.

The party's statement to the media says that "the extraordinary local elections in Pazardzhik have become a catalyst for many processes in Bulgarian politics and have revealed the true face of the main political forces."

"After the leader of GERB and mandate bearer unilaterally ordered the removal of National Assembly Chair Nataliya Kiselova and publicly humiliated her, the coalition council of the United Left accepted this abuse without any resistance. As a party, we responded with a public statement of disagreement with this behaviour,” Noneva said.

“When Boyko Borissov subsequently proposed the inclusion of Delyan Peevski's party directly in the government of the country, and the Bulgarian Socialist Party accepted this unconditionally and without consulting its coalition partners, we firmly stated: we cannot sit at the table in the backroom. We do not wish to participate, either directly or indirectly, in such a reformatted government,” Noneva added.

“Unfortunately, backroom deals control almost all levers of power in the country. Their tentacles extend from institutions, through most of the parties, to the media. Decisions are made authoritatively and outside the institutional and legal order. Democracy has been crushed, freedom of speech has been pushed into a corner, and fear has gripped a large part of society. Elections are now openly bought. The forces of resistance in the state, political parties, and society are weakening with each passing day,” Noneva said.

“We are on the verge of complete authoritarianism, masked as democracy,” she added.