Radev Presents the Priorities of “Progressive Bulgaria”: Fight Against Oligarchy and Economic Development

A primary task in the next National Assembly is to have a 2/3 majority, to replace the Supreme Judicial Council and to elect a new legitimate Prosecutor General, said Rumen Radev (president in the period 2017 – 2026) and leader of “Progressive Bulgaria” at the presentation of the formation's priorities in Sofia.

“However, you know that this may not happen. It depends on the mathematics in the National Assembly, it depends on the forces that drive those present in this National Assembly,” Radev also said. We will not remain hostages to a possible political blockade, but will continue to work in parallel – to reform the services and the Ministry of Interior, to expose and prevent corruption schemes, to collect evidence suitable for the court, because the time will come. For even more intensive work with our partner services and governments, so that we can establish assets, bank accounts, properties of Bulgarian citizens abroad with an illegal origin, explained Radev.

We will strengthen the confiscation of assets and property with illegal and unclear origin, because that is where the oligarchy feeds on. I am confident that among the magistrates there are Bulgarians with moral strength and integrity and we will rely on serious work with them, he also said. 

Rumen Radev announced the dismantling of the oligarchic model and accelerated economic development.

Our ambition is to form a government that will impose clear rules for everyone. A government that will protect the public resource and create conditions for accelerated growth. To guarantee security, decent incomes and prospects for the development of every Bulgarian citizen, explained Radev.

For the implementation of these goals, we have developed a set of priorities and measures and they are detailed in our program. This evening we will focus on only two priorities – the dismantling of the oligarchic model and the accelerated economic development of the country – for three reasons. First - without dismantling the oligarchic model that has captured Bulgaria, any subsequent management configurations and their economic and social policies will again and again fall into the clutches of the oligarchy and will be doomed to failure. Second - without a strong economy, none of the other sectors can develop. Third – time is limited and we cannot unfold the whole program, commented Rumen Radev.

There are a few hours left until the start of the election campaign and therefore this evening we will not conduct an election campaign. We will try to satisfy your interest in our program for the future of the country, said Rumen Radev at the beginning of the presentation of the priorities.

The Bulgarian oligarchy is deeply rooted in the social and economic life of the country - a pyramid that systematically robs society and guarantees impunity through control over institutions, parties, the electoral process, the media and business, said Radev. The specific figures, political names, against whom Bulgarians poured out their anger in the squares at the end of last year, are only the tip of this pyramid, which is deeply permeated in all levels of state bodies and the judiciary. Only the removal from power of this top will not give the necessary results, commented Radev.

A comprehensive program with specific consecutive measures is needed, not only for dismantling, but also for preventing the institutions from being captured again. Of course, the first and most important step is the removal of the top of this pyramid from public power and this is our main goal in these elections, said Rumen Radev.

If we want the economy to develop intensively on the basis of entrepreneurship, investments and free competition, we must free business from the racketeering of the oligarchy, Rumen Radev also said.

He added that there can be no effective fight against corruption without free media. We will work to improve the media environment, for full clarification of media ownership, for financial independence of public media, for the protection of journalistic investigations and sources and for the support of investigative journalism, said Rumen Radev.

He noted that a major priority in the entire program is also the fight against inequalities. Radev explained that the economic team of the formation has developed a new approach to control public finances, based on artificial intelligence.