site.btaUPDATED Campaign Highlights: Sept. 4

VMRO - Bulgarian National Movement opened its election campaign at the grave of revolutionary Todor Aleksandrov near the southwestern village of Sugarevo. The party’s honorary chairman, Krassimir Karakachanov, said that everyone sees Bulgaria’s condition - а demographic catastrophe, collapse, misery. In his words, there is only one way out - to stop looking for others to follow but to join 'our own forces'. VMRO’s Deputy Chairman Angel Dzhambazki added external forces have always been trying to divide the society and tough times are ahead. "We're starting our march to fight for the truth, for the true values, which is why we're here and our struggle continues," VMRO co-leader Iskren Vesselinov said.

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Continue the Change (CC) co-leader Kiril Petkov opened the party’s election campaign in the northwestern city of Vidin. The ceremony was held on the Danube riverbank. “On October 2 Bulgaria faces an important choice - it has to choose between the political failure of the transition period and a changed Bulgaria,” Petkov said, presenting CC’s list of MP candidates in the region. Speaking to the local people, Petkov and CC’s MP candidates discussed the social measures that Petkov’s former cabinet has taken and the next steps in their fight against corruption. He urged the citizens to vote for CC to let them 'finish their job' and provide 'dignified life' for the elderly people and 'more opportunities for the young'. CC’s top-of-list candidate in Vidin is Ivo Atanasov, a former There Is Such a People MP.

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There Is Such a People (TISP) opened their election campaign in Plovdiv region in the Bachkovo monastery. TISP’s top-of-list candidate in Plovdiv Region and party deputy leader Toshko Yordanov, said that the party’s candidates will not lie and will keep their word. Yordanov added that TISP is preparing to hold a referendum and ask the people on whether Bulgaria should become a presidential republic. He also said that his party goes in the elections alone against the political system but together with the people. TISP’s top-of-the-list candidate in Plovdiv City Grozdan Karadjov commented that the floods in the Karlovo Municipality are a result of carelessness and negligence of state and municipal institutions. He added that TISP representatives have collected some BGN 10,000 of donations to buy water, provisions and blankets for the floods’ victims.

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GERB-UDF leader Boyko Borissov said in Silistra that after Continue the Change's administration, the State is in a serious economic crisis, the price of electricity has increased more than ten times since August 2020, which has led to a drastic increase in the price of all essential goods. "Together with my team, we can lower the prices by 50-60% because the coal is ours, the miners are ours, the energy companies are ours, the power grid is ours, NPP - Kozloduy is ours and no war is stopping us," said Borisov. He pointed out that during his administration the deficit and external debt were reduced to the lowest in Europe.

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Bulgarian Social Democracy - EuroLeft party leader Prof. Alexander Tomov said in Sofia that the highlight of the party's campaign are 15 strategic projects, each worth over EUR 1 billion. This programme offers a new type of state that does not just distribute public funds, but organizes them, he noted. Miroslav Angelov, the youngest top-of-list candidate, said the party's priorities include overcoming the economic crisis, a 2023 state budget with a deficit of up to 3%, increase in budget revenues by 10-15%, as well as a new economic policy, more export opportunities, incomes on par with other Eastern European countries, eradication of corruption, a programme for new jobs, protection of women's rights.

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The sequence of the campaign highlights featured in this report follows the ballot numbers of the 29 contestants in the October 2 snap parliamentary elections.