The row surrounding the Bulgarian Socialist Party’s (BSP) nomination for the upcoming Sofia mayoral elections illustrates the deep crisis engulfing the former ruling party. 

The last time Sofia had anything other than a right-wing mayor was during the time of Stefan Ninov (1986-1990) when BSP’s predecessor, the Bulgarian Communist Party, ruled the country. Ever since then Sofia has been a lost cause for the BSP because of the city’s right-wing mood and, recently, on account of the immense popularity of current Prime Minister Boiko Borissov who won the previous two mayoral elections. Of course, it was Borissov’s appointment as Prime Minister on July 27 this year that triggered the November 15 elections. To judge from recent events, including the general election the BSP lost to Borissov’s GERB, the BSP is set for yet another fiasco.

Set to lose
The Sofia mayor elections are the first major test of the BSP’s ability to regroup after four years in power and endless corruption scandals. The election defeat following its highly negative campaign put a question mark around the leadership of BSP leader and former prime minister Sergei Stanishev.

One of the first to seek Stanishev’s resignation was Georgi Kadiev, former deputy finance minister, who used to be described as one of BSP’s rising stars until he was forced to resign his ministerial position after disagreements with then finance minister Plamen Oresharski. Stanishev refused to resign ahead of BSP’s congress set for October 18, but Kadiev’s calls were backed by various BSP politicians.

Conspiracy theories interpreted Kadiev’s statements in the silent conflict between Stanishev and Roumen Ovcharov, leader of BSP’s Sofia unit, as Kadiev, currently on Sofia municipal council, acting as Ovcharov’s effective standard-bearer. Hence it was no surprise that, when Kadiev’s name was mentioned as the BSP’s mayoral candidate, Stanishev deemed him unsuitable. Stanishev claimed that Kadiev was a party candidate while the BSP needed someone capable of attracting more than just party loyalists. Hence Stanishev himself decided not to run for Sofia mayor because he too would have been a party candidate.

By the time of Stanishev’s statement on Kadiev, the latter was one of 13 BSP nominees. In an effort to show the BSP as a transparent party, Ovcharov decided to hold an internal election for the party’s mayoral candidate with Kadiev one of 13 nominations raised by BSP supporters. What would have been the first internal BSP elections, however, failed after Kadiev was the only one to file his papers on time, making him in effect the only candidate. Stanishev, in a major U-turn, now had no choice but to recognise him as a "worthy candidate".

The drama intensified on September 23 when Kadiev said that he did not want his leader’s support. "I have never wanted Stanishev’s support. It comes too late. I needed his support in 2006-2007 when I wanted to do a few good things at the Finance Ministry," he told Focus news agency.

So, awkwardly for the BSP, the party finds that its mayoral candidate wants nothing to do with its embattled leader whom many feel should have filed his resignation immediately post-election. Given Kadiev’s slim chance of success in the elections, his nomination could easily be seen as a vote of confidence in Stanishev who had just lost the battle for the party candidate. The result will be known at the looming BSP congress when Stanishev is expected to defend his leadership.

Set to win
Education Minister Yordanka Fandukova now seems unstoppable in her bid to become Sofia mayor. Fandukova came to prominence after Borissov appointed her as deputy Sofia mayor responsible for education in 2005 when he was Sofia mayor. On September 17, Borissov’s party GERB nominated her as the party candidate for the November 15 elections.

Borissov’s high approval ratings as Sofia mayor and Prime Minister give rival parties little room for manoeuvre. This became evident when other right-wing and centre-right parties pondered the need for their own candidates when they could simply support Fandukova. Borissov, on the other hand, repeated his pre-election policy that his party was running alone but anyone from the other right-wing parties was welcome to join as long as there were no coalition agreements. This strategy served him well on July 5 when he was able to claim victory singlehandedly. It now seems that the same scenario will repeat itself on November 15 in Sofia.