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40 I Southeast Europe bne May 2021
Bulgaria’s new sheriff in town
All three proposals were backed a by majority of those who voted, but turnout was slightly lower than in the 2014 parliamentary elections, meaning the quorum was not met.
These three questions were also the clearest political objectives of Trifonov’s party ahead of the April 4 general election. The party has not presented
a detailed programme, earning it widespread criticism from opponents and analysts, but that did not stop people from voting for it.
Old saviour’s fading charisma
While Trifonov’s next move will determine whether he heads Bulgaria’s next government or brings the country closer to early elections, Borissov, the country’s three-mandate premier, is losing his charm for voters with the support for his Gerb party collapsing. Although gaining slightly above 26% of the vote on April 4, nearly 10 percentage points ahead of Trifonov’s party, which had around 17%, Borissov will most likely fail to find coalition partners to form another parliamentary majority and a fourth government.
For many years, Borissov was Bulgaria’s man of the moment. He started to
gain popularity while serving as chief secretary of the interior ministry during the government of Simeon Borisov
Denitsa Koseva in Sofia
Aweek after the April 4 general election, Bulgaria seems to have a new ‘saviour of the nation’ in Slavi Trifonov while Prime Minister Boyko Borissov heads for the dustbin of history. However, the new and old faces of the day seem alike, and after three terms under Borissov the country could be heading for more of the same.
Trifonov, a popular showman and TV host, was the unexpected runner up in the election with his party There Are Such People gaining more than half a million votes. As Borissov, whose Gerb party won the most votes, seems unable to form a new coalition, Trifonov might become the next premier.
The TV host, now owner of the 7/8
TV channel, became popular in the
early 1990s, shortly after the fall of communism, when he was part of the team that produced the Cuckoo TV show (later renamed Canaletto). A student at musical academy at the time, Trifonov along with the rest of the team were the first to create an independent comedy show after decades during which all broadcasts were controlled by the state.
In 1997 the country faced mass anti- government protests due to the deep economic crisis caused by the Socialist- led government of then prime minister
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Zhan Videnov. Trifonov, later to become a television talk show host, started playing songs dating from the time of Bulgaria’s struggle for liberation from Ottoman rule at the protests. Subsequently, he became one of the most popular TV show hosts
in Bulgaria, with his Slavi’s Show being broadcast by bTV from 2000 to 2019.
In 2019, Trifonov set up his political party, initially called No Such State and renamed There Are Such People after
a court’s refusal to register it under the
“Trifonov set up his political Party called No Such State but renamed it There Are Such People after a court refused to register it with that name"
original name. Before that, his show initiated a referendum, which was
held in November 2016 along with the presidential election. Voters were asked whether they supported limiting public funding of political parties to BGN1
per year per valid vote received in the previous election, the introduction of compulsory voting in elections and referendums, and changing the electoral system for the National Assembly to the two-round system.
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Bulgaria’s last
tsar before the communist era, who was prime minister between 2001
and 2005. Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, along with former communist leader Todor Zhivkov, had been one of the clients
of Borissov’s private security firm. On becoming prime minister, he appointed his former bodyguard as chief secretary of the interior ministry, an influential position that Borissov held until he ran successfully for Sofia mayor in 2005.