Coalition “Libertas-free citizens” have been denied registration for the European Parliament elections by the Bulgarian Central Electoral Commission. The coalition submitted its documents for registration yesterday (May 13th) just minutes before the registration deadline. However, according to Commission officials the set of documents was missing an important piece - a bank order proving the payment of the deposit for participation in the elections. Instead, there was a note saying that the deposit of 100 000 Bulgarian leva (~50 000 EUR) could be paid only by the “oligarchs”.
Mr. Ganley’s Libertas won’t get any MEPs from Bulgaria. Photo: dailylife.com
The issue of the electoral deposit was also raised by the “Greens” in Bulgaria who claimed the raised requirements (from 15 to 50 thousand leva for parties and from 20 to 100 thousand for coalitions) hinders democracy and is aimed at stopping civic formations from breaking the political status-quo. Most European countries do not require deposits for election participation while some apply symbolically low financial thresholds. Still, unlike the Libertas branch, the “Greens” managed to raise enough donations and registered for the elections yesterday. If they manage to get more than 1% of the vote they will get their money back.
The Electoral Commission registered 3 coalitions and 10 political parties which will contest the 17 Bulgarian seats in the next European Parliament.
(18 votes, average: 4.28 out of 5)
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At least they tried in Bulgaria. In Romania it wasn’t even the case. Ganley’s right hand man offered a well known bussines woman to run for them, but she turned them down last month. Except for this move, they were practically inexistent in Romania.
The post is a valuable contribution, but the message it conveys about Bulgarian democracy is worrying.
Agreed.
This also highlights the difficulties of starting and co-ordinating a Europe-wide political party.
Whether you support Libertas or not, you have to credit them for trying.
Either ganley has run out of funds or they decided it was not worth bothering with Bulgaria. Either way Libertas are running in less than half the EU which makes their add about how they can get all the seats in the EU parliamant lie.
Ganley knew many oligarchs in his youth when he did business in Russia , indeed many people believe that he is one.
The state of democracy in Bulgaria is worrying at best. The deposit system was introduced to battle the huge number of phantom parties (over 300 at some point) that took advantage of state funds for campaigning. However the unmotivated rise of the money asked when a party can not be registered by less than 5000 people is not a good sign. The socialist-dominated government also banned companies and associations from the list of possible party donors in order to decrease the support that the center-right opposition is getting from foreign foundation ( e.g. Konrad Adenauer).
Yesterday the Constitutional Court annulled the last minute change in the national electoral law that set the threshold for coalitions at 8% (it’s 4% for parties) which aimed directly at the opposition coalition between two of the traditional center-right Bulgarian parties. At least that’s partly good. If that stayed the remaining steps to “sovereign democracy” would have been just a few.
Ralf Grahn says:
May 13, 2009 at 14:26
The post is a valuable contribution, but the message it conveys about Bulgarian democracy is worrying.
Yes, Ralf, we will show you much much more during the pre-election campaign here. Just wait and see
All of a sudden on the horizon appeared the idea of a pan-European party (Libertas), with the intention to intervene in Bulgarian policy. A party, whose centre is abroad and therefore beyond the control of the Bulgarian mafia. Its scale is European-wide and hence its capability.
Until the beginning of February 2009 no ordinary men in Bulgaria had heard of the creation of the pan-European Libertas Party. And probably would still not have heard if the Bulgarian mafia had not induced MP Mincho Hristov Kouminev to withdraw his documents in support of its registration by the European Parliament with the purpose to frustrate its pan-European registration.
Namely the withdrawal of the support for Libertas by MP Mincho Kouminev was noted by the Bulgarian press and media in Bulgaria. Thus we learned of the pan-European Libertas Party.
By the beginning of February 2009 we, a large group of antimafiotic and anticorrupt disposed associates, were in the final phase of construction of a new party in Bulgaria - National Alternative for Development of the Society and Democracy. It involved the independent MP Dr. Georgi Georgiev Milanov.
Along with the media noise at the beginning of February 2009, concerning the refusal to register Libertas as a pan-European party and the withdrawn support by the Bulgarian MP Mincho Kouminev, we got to know about the existence of Libertas.
After getting acquainted with the available in Internet information about Libertas and coming in contact through e-mail and by telephone with the party office in Brussels, we realized that our goals are common and we convinced and authorized MP Dr. Georgi Milanov Georgiev to support Libertas in his capacity as a MP to enable the party to meet the requirements for registration as a pan-European party.
After the office of Libertas in Brussels sent us the forms of documents that Dr. Georgi Georgiev had to fill in and send back, on February 16, 2009 we sent an e-mail and hard copy by registered mail of the documents in support of the registration of Libertas to the office of Libertas in Brussels.
The office in Brussels expressed its gratitude for the sent through e-mail documents for membership and we were notified of the impending arrival of Mr. Jens-Peter Bonde in Sofia and his desire to meet us.
On March 6, 2009, from 14 to 16 o’clock, the leadership of the already almost built new Bulgarian party - National Alternative for Development of the Society and Democracy (NAROD) - met Mr. Jens-Peter Bonde in Sofia in the presence Mr. Nikolay Bliznakov and the Romanian Libertas representative.
At this meeting we decided to use our existing structures, to open and expand them by integrating all supporters of Libertas in Bulgaria in order to create a national political party Libertas Bulgaria as part of the pan-European Libertas Party.
This party should participate in the European elections in Bulgaria, as a legitimate representative of the pan-European Libertas Party in Bulgaria.
As a backup option, in case the Bulgarian court delayed the registration of the new Libertas Bulgaria party and it was not registered till the European elections, we agreed to organize a formal coalition of fictitious parties to participate in the European elections and all really belonging to the idea of the pan-European Libertas Movement participate actively in the campaign.
Not knowing at that time about Mr. Nikolay Bliznakov’s links with the Bulgarian with the clan of President Georgi Parvanov, through the son of Vice President Angel Marin, and that factually his job was to discredit and ruin Libertas in Bulgaria, I convinced MP Dr. Georgi Georgiev to offer Mr. Nikolay Bliznakov the position of chairman of the new Libertas Bulgaria political party. Mr. Bliznakov accepted … and disappeared in Plovdiv, engulfing in silence.
We began intensive work on the promotion of Libertas, attracting new people and groups and preparing the documents for the registration of the new Libertas Bulgaria party.
When the documents were ready for submission, Mr. Bliznakov urged us to wait with the motive that those were the instructions from Brussels. After having lost nearly two weeks in waiting, Mr. Bliznakov surprisingly said that he was the author of the idea of non-party democracy and could not participate in the party.
Meanwhile, the documents of MP Dr. Georgi Georgiev Milanov in support of the registration of the pan-European Libertas Party Libertas by the European Parliament, sent by post to the Brussels office, were sent back unread. (Later in Rome Miss Tanya Bliznakova, Mr. Nikolay Bliznakov’s niece, told us that was made, because Dr. Georgi Georgiev had been a military scout against Turkey at the time he was at military office).
Because of the rejection of his documents, Dr. Georgi Georgiev took offence and refused further participation in Libertas Bulgaria.
On April 8, 2009, without the membership in the party of Mr. Nikolay Bliznakov and Dr. Georgi Georgiev, we filed the documents for registration of Libertas Bulgaria political party in the Bulgarian court. Our slowdown, that was through Mr. Nikolay Bliznakov’s fault, proved fatal for the party’s participation in the European elections. The registration of the party became a fact on May 19, 2009, while the deadline for registration of parties and coalitions to participate in the elections had ended a week earlier - May 12, 2009.
On April 27, 2009 Mr. Jens-Peter Bonde arrived in Bulgaria. On April 28, 2009 was hold a meeting at Universiada Hall in Sofia of the three groups related to Libertas in Bulgaria - Mr. Nikolay Bliznakov’s “Civic” Group from Plovdiv (including two monomial formal parties - Stefan Peev’s Movement for Civic Initiative from Sofia and Ivan Chaprazov’s Union of Pensioners from Stara Zagora), Pavel Chernev’s Freedom Party and the new and most numerous, but at that moment yet unregistered by the Bulgarian court, Libertas Bulgaria.
In the presence of Mr. Jens-Peter Bonde was formed headquarters by representatives of the three groups, who had to organize the European elections in Bulgaria.
I’ll skip the problems that accompanied the travel of the Bulgarian delegation to Rome, the responsibility for which is solely Mr. Nikolai Bliznakov’s. They are described accurately in the article “They failed” Libertas “in Bulgaria, published on the website of Party” Freedom “(http://www.freedom-party.com).
The only thing I would stress is that I dare suppose the reason for the horror experienced by the Bulgarian delegates is not simply a consequence of stealing funds by Mr. Bliznakov and his poor organizational skills, but rather more Mr. Bliznakov aimed at discrediting the pan-European Libertas Party in front of the nearly 100 Bulgarian delegates and raising a harmful PR-wave after their return to Bulgaria.
Despite the establishment of the Headquarters on April 27, 2009, the return on May 3, 2009 from Rome was followed by complete silence.
On May 7, 2009 Mr. Bonde’s personal secretary Manuel arrived in Bulgaria. Mr. Bliznakov kept it secretly. We learned about his arrival by private sources and Mr. Bliznakov was forced to organize a meeting between him and us at the Radisson Hotel restaurant.
There we agreed on a joint meeting on Monday (May 11, 2009), where to discuss the candidates and prepare the documents and lists for the registration of Libertas for the European elections in Bulgaria.
On May 10, 2009 we reached by phone an agreement with Mr. Bliznakov that when he arrives in Sofia the next day, he will inform us of the place of the meeting. The time of the meeting was fixed for 18,30.
On May 11, 2009 Mr. Bliznakov made no call until 16 o’clock and did not answer our calls. He called about 18 o’clock to say that the meeting would not be important, but only technical, so our presence was not needed. Meanwhile we had already got to know the place of the meeting in Sofia - Athens Restaurant (known as the restaurant of the mafioso Ivo Karamanski) - and we arrived there with 5 more leaders of the Libertas Bulgaria political party. Having understood of our arrival, Mr. Bliznakov intercepted us at the restaurant entrance and said the restaurant was closed and the meeting was postponed, so we should give our representatives for the electoral lists the next day.
Meanwhile it turned out that Mr. Bliznakov’s lie was aimed at preventing our meeting with Mr. Jesper Katz, who was in Sofia that same day.
The next day secretly and in Mr. Bliznakov’s idea was signed a discrediting the pan-European Libertas Party coalition agreement between the monomial parties - Movement for Civic Initiative and Populist Agrarian Party of the known for his crimes Emil Temelkov.
It turned out that the necessary documents for registration of the coalition to participate in the elections had not been prepared. Or, to be more precise, they had been prepared in a way that the registration for the elections was rejected by the Central Election Commission.
As are probably well aware, the implementation of backup option for participation in the European elections of Libertas in Bulgaria through a coalition of formal parties was a spectacular failure.
We would like to point out that all the facts lead to the conclusion that this was done deliberately in charge of oligarchic structures that do not want the appearance of real competition in politics and was conducted by Mr. Nikolay Bliznakov.
Thus the European elections have been lost to Libertas in Bulgaria.
But still there is hope…
On May 25, 2009 the Bulgarian court registered Libertas Bulgaria political party.
Libertas Bulgaria political party is already a legal fact.
The Pan-European Libertas Party has already a legitimate and independent from the mafia in Bulgaria projection. There are also structures in almost the whole country and over 3,000 active members, whose number increases every next day.
Despite the experienced disappointments, we are determined to continue.
We are motivated to do it because we are convinced that the struggle with the Bulgarian mafia and the transforming of Bulgaria into a normal democratic European country might happen much easier and faster, if the party that implements it here is part of a pan-European party, which supports it. If the struggle for democracy, accountability and transparency in Bulgaria is part of the struggle for democracy, accountability and transparency throughout the European Union. If the party that implements it in Bulgaria has its back and stronghold in a pan-European party. If it is part of it.
We, the newly registered Libertas Bulgaria Party once again underline our affiliation to the pan-European Libertas Movement and will do everything we can, so that its purpose is crowned with success in Bulgaria and throughout Europe.
http://libertas.free.bg/cgi-php/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=5
@ Emil
Writing such a long comment obviously made you forget rating the article
Failure is filled.:))
Prompt to me please where I can read about it? cilais price I have a nice fresh joke for you people) Why did the chicken cross the road? To prove to the opossum it could be done.