With Simeon Saxe-Coburg's Government having passed the 800-day mark within which the Prime Minister had undertaken to improve the lives of Bulgarians, CHRISTINA DIMITROVA and JULIANA IVANOVA noted the views of those inthe corridors of power - and those in the streets.
THE expiration of the 800 days within which Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg promised to considerably improve the living standards of Bulgarians provoked mixed feelings among politicians.
Ahmed Dogan, leader of the coalition partner of the National Movement Simeon II (NMSII), the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) said that the 800 days had turned into something of a myth. According to Dogan, this myth played a bad trick on the Government as everyone was expecting something to change considerably within this period.
Dogan, however, said that what mattered the most at the moment was that the Government should find a way to solve at least some of the problems, rather than try to solve all the problems, facing the country.
Dogan emphasised his belief that the Government had done a good job in dealing with EU pre-accession funds.
"What matters the most is that the machine got going," Dogan said. "In the next year, year and a half, people will feel the effect of the first two years. So far, however, people have not seen the five per cent GDP growth in their fridges and this is not good."
The deputy leader of the right-wing opposition Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) Ekaterina Mihailova said that the magic of the 800 days was over and it was high time for the Government to go away.
"In those 800 days everyone found out that this was a big lie offered by the Prime Minister and we all know that the lie has short legs," Mihailova said.
According to her the Government had lost voters' confidence and it was time for new parliamentary elections.
The deputy floor leader of the United Democratic Forces (UtDF) Dimitar Abadjiev said that these were the first and the last 800 days of the Government.
"In those 800 days the Prime Minister did not fulfill any of his promises of well-being," Abadjiev said. "Instead he directed his efforts towards his own well-being."
The MP from the Bulgarian Agrarian Popular Union - People's Union (BAPU-PU) Monyo Hristov said that the Government had sold out the national interests of Bulgaria.
Cabinet ministers gave themselves very high marks for the job they had done.
The Minister of Environment and Waters Dolores Arsenova said she was satisfied with the work of her ministry, saying it had completed its programme.
The Minister of Communications and Transport Nikolai Vassilev also said that the Government had done a great job.
President Georgi Purvanov said that the passing of the first 800 days of the Government was a theme for a debate.
"I think that this period deserves a debate among the parties and the institutions," he said.
The left-wing opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) harshly criticised the Government. A declaration read out in Parliament by BSP MP Mihail Mikov said that Bulgaria was still divided in two - between the right-wing Bulgaria of the Government and the big corporations, and the Bulgaria of the other people.
According to the calculations of BSP, 66 per cent of Bulgarians have less than 100 leva to get through the month and 2.5 million people have no income other than social welfare. At the same time, according to the BSP, electricity prices had risen by more than 50 per cent, heating by more than 30 per cent and medicines by an average 40 per cent.
The BSP said of Saxe-Coburg and the NMSII that the promised new morality in politics had turned into promoting private and corporate interests and complete chaos.
NMSII floor leader Stanimir Ilchev said that in the past 800 days the Government had not made a single major mistake. He said that in the past 800 days, the Government managed to considerably reduce unemployment, remove half of the licensing regimes, achieved economic and financial stability, a higher credit rating for the country and negative inflation. Ilchev said that in the past two years, the Government had pursued and protected national interests with cleverness and continuity.
Former prime minister Ivan Kostov broke his 800 days of silence by appearing last Sunday on bTV's political talk show, In the Ten.
Among other comments, Kostov criticised the current Government for its lack of decisiveness, energy and will to take difficult decisions and sacrifice its own interests.
Kostov conceded that the Government has made some achievements such as a low unemployment rate and economic growth. On the other hand, according to Kostov, most people do not feel an improvement in the general economic situation because they had low incomes, which were being "eaten" by the high prices of utilities and essential goods and service.
"The people feel poorer and as there is economic growth and higher income, this means that someone is getting richer very fast," Kosto said. "There is an uneven spread of incomes, which shows that the weight of the reforms is unevenly spread."
THE expiration of the 800 days within which Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg promised to considerably improve the living standards of Bulgarians provoked mixed feelings among politicians.
Ahmed Dogan, leader of the coalition partner of the National Movement Simeon II (NMSII), the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) said that the 800 days had turned into something of a myth. According to Dogan, this myth played a bad trick on the Government as everyone was expecting something to change considerably within this period.
Dogan, however, said that what mattered the most at the moment was that the Government should find a way to solve at least some of the problems, rather than try to solve all the problems, facing the country.
Dogan emphasised his belief that the Government had done a good job in dealing with EU pre-accession funds.
"What matters the most is that the machine got going," Dogan said. "In the next year, year and a half, people will feel the effect of the first two years. So far, however, people have not seen the five per cent GDP growth in their fridges and this is not good."
The deputy leader of the right-wing opposition Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) Ekaterina Mihailova said that the magic of the 800 days was over and it was high time for the Government to go away.
"In those 800 days everyone found out that this was a big lie offered by the Prime Minister and we all know that the lie has short legs," Mihailova said.
According to her the Government had lost voters' confidence and it was time for new parliamentary elections.
The deputy floor leader of the United Democratic Forces (UtDF) Dimitar Abadjiev said that these were the first and the last 800 days of the Government.
"In those 800 days the Prime Minister did not fulfill any of his promises of well-being," Abadjiev said. "Instead he directed his efforts towards his own well-being."
The MP from the Bulgarian Agrarian Popular Union - People's Union (BAPU-PU) Monyo Hristov said that the Government had sold out the national interests of Bulgaria.
Cabinet ministers gave themselves very high marks for the job they had done.
The Minister of Environment and Waters Dolores Arsenova said she was satisfied with the work of her ministry, saying it had completed its programme.
The Minister of Communications and Transport Nikolai Vassilev also said that the Government had done a great job.
President Georgi Purvanov said that the passing of the first 800 days of the Government was a theme for a debate.
"I think that this period deserves a debate among the parties and the institutions," he said.
The left-wing opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) harshly criticised the Government. A declaration read out in Parliament by BSP MP Mihail Mikov said that Bulgaria was still divided in two - between the right-wing Bulgaria of the Government and the big corporations, and the Bulgaria of the other people.
According to the calculations of BSP, 66 per cent of Bulgarians have less than 100 leva to get through the month and 2.5 million people have no income other than social welfare. At the same time, according to the BSP, electricity prices had risen by more than 50 per cent, heating by more than 30 per cent and medicines by an average 40 per cent.
The BSP said of Saxe-Coburg and the NMSII that the promised new morality in politics had turned into promoting private and corporate interests and complete chaos.
NMSII floor leader Stanimir Ilchev said that in the past 800 days the Government had not made a single major mistake. He said that in the past 800 days, the Government managed to considerably reduce unemployment, remove half of the licensing regimes, achieved economic and financial stability, a higher credit rating for the country and negative inflation. Ilchev said that in the past two years, the Government had pursued and protected national interests with cleverness and continuity.
Former prime minister Ivan Kostov broke his 800 days of silence by appearing last Sunday on bTV's political talk show, In the Ten.
Among other comments, Kostov criticised the current Government for its lack of decisiveness, energy and will to take difficult decisions and sacrifice its own interests.
Kostov conceded that the Government has made some achievements such as a low unemployment rate and economic growth. On the other hand, according to Kostov, most people do not feel an improvement in the general economic situation because they had low incomes, which were being "eaten" by the high prices of utilities and essential goods and service.
"The people feel poorer and as there is economic growth and higher income, this means that someone is getting richer very fast," Kosto said. "There is an uneven spread of incomes, which shows that the weight of the reforms is unevenly spread."
