Shouting at the loudspeakers of a mosque; a violent dispute on a highway; the loss of his immunity as an MP from prosecution; a court judgment; an ongoing trial;  a second-round defeat as a presidential candidate and a marriage.

It was not a dull year for Volen Siderov, leader of Bulgaria’s ultra-nationalist Ataka party.

Through all the turbulence, the triumphs and the reverses, Siderov was seen by many people as he seemingly wants to be seen: the angry man working for the benefit of the poor and unfairly treated Bulgarians. It is an image that Siderov has worked very hard to shape.

Throughout 2006, Siderov kept up his principal propaganda assault against Bulgarians of Turkish descent and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), which is party to the ruling tripartite coalition. MRF leader Ahmed Dogan was portrayed by Siderov as the principal villain in Bulgaria’s problems.

The year 2006 saw the 133rd anniversary of the execution by the Ottomans of Bulgaria’s greatest political mind, revolutionary and national hero, Vassil Levski. February 19 is a day of heightened emotions, and at least for some, there may be a surge of feeling of hostility towards the Turkish minority, since today’s Turkey is a successor to the Ottoman Empire. Ataka’s February 19 rally was in effect an anti-Turk demonstration, with Siderov’s supporters scandalising many by spewing racist slogans and by burning fezzes.

On April 7, a car driven by Ataka MP Pavel Chernev and with Siderov as a passenger, collided with another vehicle on the Sofia-Plovdiv highway. After the collision, the 22-year-old driver of the other car and his ill 75-year-old grandfather were assaulted. Chernev’s initial story was that he had been the one who had assaulted the driver and the elderly man, saying that they had tried to hurt Siderov.

Siderov called the incident “an attempt on his life”. But 10 days later Chernev changed his story, saying that it had not been he who had assaulted the two, but Siderov’s driver, Lyubomir Bakyrdjiev. Chernev said that Siderov had asked him to make a false statement to keep Bakyrdjiev out of the investigation because Siderov’s driver already had a criminal record. That was enough for Prosecutor-General Boris Velchev to say that Siderov would likely lose his political immunity, if evidence showed that he had asked Chernev to lie.

On June 22, Parliament removed Siderov’s immunity at the request of Velchev, who started an investigation into Siderov’s actions.

Witnesses to the April 7 incident alleged that Siderov had waved a firearm.

In July, Ataka started a petition to remove the loudspeakers from the central mosque in Sofia, claiming that they disturbed people living nearby. The fact that the speakers had been functioning for years without anyone complaining was not something Siderov cared about. A formal check was done, and it turned out the sound from the loudspeakers was below permitted levels, which closed the case. Never mind the science, it was the politics that mattered.

Two weeks later, Siderov took a blow. Sofia regional court issued a judgment ordering Siderov to refrain from inciting racial and ethnic discrimination and from making inflammatory statements. Although this was Siderov’s first sentence as Ataka leader, this was not his main problem. It was the highway incident that worried him, especially without the precious immunity as an MP. Perhaps this had something to do with his decision in September to stand as a candidate in the October 22 presidential elections. Presidential candidates have immunity for the duration of the elections. His campaign messages were familiar. The lack of organised centre-right solidarity behind one strong and popular candidate, and low voter turnout, allowed Siderov, by default, into the second round to challenge Purvanov. Purvanov scooped just less than three-quarters of the vote to defeat Siderov (who somewhat predictably immediately alleged electoral fraud). A devastating loss for any ordinary politician, but not for Siderov.

But the fact that Siderov got almost identical results in the two rounds of the elections showed that he seemed to have reached his limit. Going by the results, Siderov could count on no more than 650 000 votes.

After all the vitriol and vindictiveness of the year, Siderov perhaps was done no harm by the wide media coverage given to his wedding, when he married his long-time girlfriend in a traditional Bulgarian Orthodox Church ceremony.

Given the controversies and defeats in 2006, perhaps in the course of the year Siderov gained nothing. But equally, however, it is doubtful that in the eyes of his followers, he lost anything.