site.btaUPDATED Campaign Highlights: Sept. 20

Continue the Change (CC) co-leader Kiril Petkov said in Troyan, North Central Bulgaria, that everyone realizes that seven months in not enough, however a real four-year term would allow his party to introduce many of the changes that people want to see. According to Petkov, first steps have been taken in many areas, and CC has plans on how to move forward. "We want nurses to be paid no less than BGN 1,500 and young physicians to be paid no less than BGN 2,000," said Petkov. His party will try to combat irregularities where a hospital is losing money, while its director's monthly salary is BGN 90,000. Petkov spoke about plans to give additional funds to high schools, whose pupils show improved performance over time.

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Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov said that on October 2 this country is not going to elections, but to a referendum, to a battle on whether Bulgaria should continue to exist as a nation and as a state, during meeting with citizens in Silistra. He stressed that the first thing that should be done after the elections is to abolish the plan for the introduction of the euro. According to him, the election campaign is sluggish because all other political forces are interested in low turnout.

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Rise Up Bulgaria leader Maya Manolova told supporters in the seaside city of Varna that Bulgaria needs a genuine left-wing party to take care of the ordinary people amid the current crisis. That is why Rise Up Bulgaria is standing independently in the elections, proposing a clear political platform for the benefit of the citizens. In fact, it is obvious now that Europe is making a left turn, Manolova said, calling for an end to the free market cult. According to her, Kornelia Ninova's Bulgarian Socialist Party is leftist only on paper. Manolova urged people to judge politicians by their actions, not their promises. As soon as the elections are over, Rise Up Bulgaria will table a bill on what it sees as an emergency in the energy sector. The bill will propose that the entire amount of electricity produced for the domestic market is sold via the regulated segment, with a fixed price cap. Only the surplus should be traded via the energy exchange. If no adequate measures are taken, companies will go bankrupt due to the electricity spike, which will cause unemployment to soar, Manolova warned.

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There Is Such a People (TISP) met with the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) in Sofia. CITUB President Plamen Dimitrov presented highlights of the Memorandum for Socio-Economic Development until 2026. According to him, people expect politicians to clarify how incomes will rise to tackle the inflation. TISP's Grozdan Karadjov said that the future government's first task should be to stop inflationary processes. Karadjov advocated strict measures against speculation. Lyubomir Karimansky commented that the capital of entrepreneurs needs support in order for the production processes to create a more sustainable income.

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GERB leader Boyko Borissov met with chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov in Sofia. "I learned that GERB is the only party in Bulgaria that has a strong and clear position on the war and supports Ukraine," said Kasparov. According to him, there are no grey squares in politics today - only black and white, which is why taking a moral stand is important. Kasparov said that he represents the Russian opposition, which wants "Russian war criminals to face punishment". Borissov pointed out that his party tabled a bill in parliament for military aid to Ukraine. "We were the first to say that this is aggression, war, and it must stop," he added. GERB entirely supports diversifying from Gazprom.

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.