WORKING for you. Offering hope. There for you. Good for you. And wanting you to get angry.
These are the sundry selling points in slogans being offered to Sofians as rival election candidates tout for votes in the three weeks remaining before municipal elections on October 26.
Incumbent mayor Stefan Sofianski, running as the candidate of the Union of Free Democrats (UFD), has the message: "A good mayor is the most important thing for Sofia." His campaign will be based mainly on the fact that everyone knows him. This is why the election campaign posters contain just a photo of Sofianski and his motto, but no name. At the opening of the campaign, Sofianski said that in the past eight years he had learnt that being mayor had nothing to do with politics. Sofianski said he would tour Sofia to talk to people and discuss their problems. Asked to discuss his mistakes as mayor so far, he said there was more to be done to make the city cleaner, but added, this also depended on the citizens.
Sofia is our home, we have to tidy it up and let in cosiness, order and light, said Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) candidate for mayor Nadezhda Mihailova at the opening of her election campaign. Her motto reads: "With Nadezhda for Sofia," a wordplay on "nadezhda" meaning "hope." She too launched a tour around the city, starting from the most far-off neighbourhoods. Mihailova said one of the most painful problems for Sofians has always been panel building. A special fund will be created to finance the rehabilitation of panel buildings. She has also promised to do away with the "spiders" picking up parked cars in the centre of Sofia.
The candidate of National Movement Simeon II (NMSII), Sports Minister Vassil Ivanov said: "I have many times said I want to be mayor of Sofia. Now I'd rather say - I do not want to be mayor of Sofia, I want to be elected mayor of Sofia." The motto of his campaign says: "I am there for you. Vote for yourself." He said he wished to do more than he was able to promise.
In a surprising move, the party of the ethnic Turks, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), put up their own candidate for Sofia mayor, instead of supporting their partner - the National Movement Simeon II. The MRF's candidate, Sofia regional governor Rossen Dimitrov, joined the race under the motto: "The Power of Common Sense in the Right Place." Professors, actors, taxi drivers and boxers are on the MRF list of candidate municipal councillors.
"I work for you," is the motto of Stoyan Alexandrov, nominated by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). The BSP had a grand opening of its campaign at the National Theatre in Sofia where party supporters applauded documentaries on BSP events, and dance performances. At the opening, Alexandrov demonstrated a highly metaphorical vocabulary and said no one should be misled by his good-natured "toothless" behaviour so far. "If need arises, I will not only show my teeth, but I will put the axe in action."
Alexandrov should have borrowed the motto of his opponent Lyuben Dilov Jr: "It is high time we got angry." The candidate-mayor, nominated by the Bulgarian Agricultural Party-National Union, the Democratic Party and the Gergyovden movement, is aiming at a direct dialogue with voters and pragmatic resolutions to most of their problems. Thus, last month Dilov launched a campaign named "Plums for a Mayor," during which Sofians would receive plums in return for sharing their problems. Earlier last month Dilov also supported the idea of a special law on Sofia.
There are more than 30 candidate mayors for Sofia. As in every election campaign, there is one who stands out for his "unique" style. In a previous campaign it was George Ganchev whose "Don't look at me that smart way, Bulgarians," was outplayed this time by journalist Volen Siderov who said he knew how to solve all problems of Sofia citizens and waved a pair of handcuffs in a real-time discussion on national TV. Siderov is supported by the Bulgarian Agricultural Party of Yani Yanev, also known as the "smoke bomb" for having thrown a smoke bomb at a meeting of UDF a couple of weeks ago.
Campaign styles are yet to yield results since voters have not yet made up their mind and rates of approval are constantly fluctuating, opinion polls show.
Confidence in UDF candidate for Sofia mayor Mihailova and her BSP opponent Alexandrov has slightly increased as compared to early September, an Alpha Research survey showed. Mihailova has the support of 13.3 per cent, in second place after Sofianski with 26.5 per cent. Pollsters however registered a drop by 0.5 per cent in support for him, in contrast to the increasing support for Alexandrov, who is third in the race. The approval for NMSII candidate Ivanov and for Dilov Jr., has been going down.
The survey of Alpha research was conducted in the five biggest towns across Bulgaria - Sofia, Varna, Bourgas, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora.
Citizens of Varna seem to be most in favour of the incumbent mayor, a candidate of BSP. His opponents of UDF and the ruling NMSII have a lot to do to catch up with him. Pollsters say a second round is not likely in Varna, if current trends remain stable.
In Bourgas, however, a second round seems very likely since the candidates running in the second, third, fourth and fifth place of public support enjoy extremely close rates of approval, almost within the range of statistical error, so any of the candidates could reach a second round.
Stara Zagora appears set for a closely-contested race with the two major opponents running at almost similar percentage of approval. The incumbent mayor supported by the BSP is closely followed by the former mayor, nominated by UDF and NMSII.
Plovdiv has the biggest share of voters unwilling to go to the polls. Thus, contrary to the stable tradition to elect a UDF mayor in the first round, this time a second round is very likely. The incumbent mayor, nominated by the UDF, is currently ahead of the rest of his opponents, but his lead would be easy to overcome.
These are the sundry selling points in slogans being offered to Sofians as rival election candidates tout for votes in the three weeks remaining before municipal elections on October 26.
Incumbent mayor Stefan Sofianski, running as the candidate of the Union of Free Democrats (UFD), has the message: "A good mayor is the most important thing for Sofia." His campaign will be based mainly on the fact that everyone knows him. This is why the election campaign posters contain just a photo of Sofianski and his motto, but no name. At the opening of the campaign, Sofianski said that in the past eight years he had learnt that being mayor had nothing to do with politics. Sofianski said he would tour Sofia to talk to people and discuss their problems. Asked to discuss his mistakes as mayor so far, he said there was more to be done to make the city cleaner, but added, this also depended on the citizens.
Sofia is our home, we have to tidy it up and let in cosiness, order and light, said Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) candidate for mayor Nadezhda Mihailova at the opening of her election campaign. Her motto reads: "With Nadezhda for Sofia," a wordplay on "nadezhda" meaning "hope." She too launched a tour around the city, starting from the most far-off neighbourhoods. Mihailova said one of the most painful problems for Sofians has always been panel building. A special fund will be created to finance the rehabilitation of panel buildings. She has also promised to do away with the "spiders" picking up parked cars in the centre of Sofia.
The candidate of National Movement Simeon II (NMSII), Sports Minister Vassil Ivanov said: "I have many times said I want to be mayor of Sofia. Now I'd rather say - I do not want to be mayor of Sofia, I want to be elected mayor of Sofia." The motto of his campaign says: "I am there for you. Vote for yourself." He said he wished to do more than he was able to promise.
In a surprising move, the party of the ethnic Turks, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), put up their own candidate for Sofia mayor, instead of supporting their partner - the National Movement Simeon II. The MRF's candidate, Sofia regional governor Rossen Dimitrov, joined the race under the motto: "The Power of Common Sense in the Right Place." Professors, actors, taxi drivers and boxers are on the MRF list of candidate municipal councillors.
"I work for you," is the motto of Stoyan Alexandrov, nominated by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). The BSP had a grand opening of its campaign at the National Theatre in Sofia where party supporters applauded documentaries on BSP events, and dance performances. At the opening, Alexandrov demonstrated a highly metaphorical vocabulary and said no one should be misled by his good-natured "toothless" behaviour so far. "If need arises, I will not only show my teeth, but I will put the axe in action."
Alexandrov should have borrowed the motto of his opponent Lyuben Dilov Jr: "It is high time we got angry." The candidate-mayor, nominated by the Bulgarian Agricultural Party-National Union, the Democratic Party and the Gergyovden movement, is aiming at a direct dialogue with voters and pragmatic resolutions to most of their problems. Thus, last month Dilov launched a campaign named "Plums for a Mayor," during which Sofians would receive plums in return for sharing their problems. Earlier last month Dilov also supported the idea of a special law on Sofia.
There are more than 30 candidate mayors for Sofia. As in every election campaign, there is one who stands out for his "unique" style. In a previous campaign it was George Ganchev whose "Don't look at me that smart way, Bulgarians," was outplayed this time by journalist Volen Siderov who said he knew how to solve all problems of Sofia citizens and waved a pair of handcuffs in a real-time discussion on national TV. Siderov is supported by the Bulgarian Agricultural Party of Yani Yanev, also known as the "smoke bomb" for having thrown a smoke bomb at a meeting of UDF a couple of weeks ago.
Campaign styles are yet to yield results since voters have not yet made up their mind and rates of approval are constantly fluctuating, opinion polls show.
Confidence in UDF candidate for Sofia mayor Mihailova and her BSP opponent Alexandrov has slightly increased as compared to early September, an Alpha Research survey showed. Mihailova has the support of 13.3 per cent, in second place after Sofianski with 26.5 per cent. Pollsters however registered a drop by 0.5 per cent in support for him, in contrast to the increasing support for Alexandrov, who is third in the race. The approval for NMSII candidate Ivanov and for Dilov Jr., has been going down.
The survey of Alpha research was conducted in the five biggest towns across Bulgaria - Sofia, Varna, Bourgas, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora.
Citizens of Varna seem to be most in favour of the incumbent mayor, a candidate of BSP. His opponents of UDF and the ruling NMSII have a lot to do to catch up with him. Pollsters say a second round is not likely in Varna, if current trends remain stable.
In Bourgas, however, a second round seems very likely since the candidates running in the second, third, fourth and fifth place of public support enjoy extremely close rates of approval, almost within the range of statistical error, so any of the candidates could reach a second round.
Stara Zagora appears set for a closely-contested race with the two major opponents running at almost similar percentage of approval. The incumbent mayor supported by the BSP is closely followed by the former mayor, nominated by UDF and NMSII.
Plovdiv has the biggest share of voters unwilling to go to the polls. Thus, contrary to the stable tradition to elect a UDF mayor in the first round, this time a second round is very likely. The incumbent mayor, nominated by the UDF, is currently ahead of the rest of his opponents, but his lead would be easy to overcome.
