site.btaUPDATED Campaign Highlights: Sept. 8

Continue the Change co-leader Assen Vassilev said in Sliven (southeastern Bulgaria), "The real choice to be made on October 2 is whether we want to live in a normal European state or whether we want to go back to stable poverty". Vassilev listed the following important reforms introduced by the quadruple coalition government: raising the maternity pay, tax credit for working parents, and pensions, among others. He described raising the income as an investment in people. His party's policy will focus on raising the incomes without raising the taxes.

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Bulgarian Rise leader Stefan Yanev met with representatives of employers' organizations, members of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA). Among the topics discussed were the problems related to the development of Bulgarian business, the energy crisis, the demographic crisis. According to Yanev, every year in Bulgaria the business loses about 50,000 Bulgarians from the labour market. These numbers should be compensated, he added and pointed out some of the priorities of his party to solve the problem, including the creation of opportunities for foreign citizens with Bulgarian passports to get easier access to Bulgarian education and the labor market.

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There Is Such a People (TISP) top-of-the-list candidate Zlatomira Karageorgieva-Mostrova said, speaking at the opening of the party's new office in Yambol (southeastern Bulgaria) that the law needs to be amended to lower the threshold for the conduct of referendums. In her words, TISP is entering the present election campaign inclined to organize a broad public debate on the issue. "As a political entity, TISP emerged from a referendum in which 3 million Bulgarians voted. So far, however, politicians have been sweeping this popular demand under the carpet," Mostrova added. The TISP candidates for parliament said that they are conducting yet another campaign "on the move", close to people, to their problems, ideas and even criticisms.

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Democratic Bulgaria Alliance is the main defender of democratic European values in the elections on October 2, the political formation's leader of the MP candidate list for the Region of Ruse region and former Minister of Justice Nadezhda Yordanova said in the city of Ruse (on the Danube) on Thursday. In her words, one of the coalition's priorities is for Bulgaria to be a strong, secure, prosperous and modern country free of corruption. She said she is a lawyer with many years of experience, who has roots from the village of Tetovo in Ruse Region. Ivan Stanev, a university lecturer in computer science, is second on the list. Stanev said the party's team is selected to cover four priorities - an efficient state, modern industry, a clean homeland and a healthy nation.

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Bulgarian Social Democracy - EuroLeft: "The stabilization of agriculture is our top priority in the region of Haskovo (South-east Bulgaria)," said Bulgarian Euro-Left leader Alexander Tomov who attended the observances celebrating the Day of Haskovo."Currently such a wonderful area produces very little. We want to create conditions to move from production of grain to production of bio foods which are in short supply in Europe," said Tomov. "This would increase several times value added in the sector and we will develop a new food industry," he added, recalling that his party has a programme drawn up by the best macro economists in Bulgaria with 15 national strategic priorities. "If it is implemented by the end of 2026, we will catch up with Central European countries in terms of incomes," predicted Tomov.

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BSP for Bulgaria leader Korneliya Ninova said that the state will be there for the people this winter only if a socialist and a social party participates in the next government. Ninova and other BSP management representatives opened the party's election campaign in Razgrad (Northeast Bulgaria). She added that the BSP can manage in solving the problems, but a regular government is needed to do that. "We, the Bulgarian socialists, will do our best to provide you comfort during the harsh winter months," Ninova said. She added that BSP's most urgent measure will be the imposition of a price cap on natural gas, heating and water.

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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.