A large union was formed in the Municipal Council – Burgas. Which political forces will be part of it? : Black Sea lighthouse

George RUSINOV

A week after the new parties and coalitions entering the Municipal Council – Burgas, as well as the new municipal councilors, became clear, the political scene in Burgas is hosting meetings and talks about unification, Black Sea Lighthouse has learned. Individual elected members of Burgas are active and are already looking for their colleagues from other groups, with whom to eventually form a larger union in the local parliament.

The reasons for this are several, of course, with that of a minimum limit of five councilors per group under the old bylaws seeming to prevail in the merger arguments. In the new Municipal Council, apart from GERB, which has 19 councillors, no other force has five. We remind you that BSP, Vazrazhdane and PP/DB each have 4 councilors, SEC, “Bulgarian Rise”, “Levitsa” and KOD have 3 each, MIR, ITN and “Citizens for the Municipality” have 2 each and 1 each – SBOR and DPS.

With this distribution of forces and with the old rules, only GERB can have a group. It is quite possible that in the new regulations the limit will be lowered to four per group, but still enough representatives of other political forces and coalitions remain below the minimum threshold.

Therefore, as mentioned, the political scene is active and buzzing with the flapping of wings of future hardworking bees in local government meeting and agreeing on greater unity. In what form it will take and whether it will happen at all, we have to find out very soon.

Officially, the “Civil Union of Burgazlii”, which entered the Municipal Council together with MIR, have requested a meeting with the other civil organizations that will have representatives in the new municipal council, to form a common group. This is clear from a post on the association’s page. It states that they themselves have already held numerous meetings with newly elected municipal councilors from across the political spectrum.

“Let’s unite our efforts and work together for the development of the city of Burgas and in defense of the interests of Burgas residents!” urge “Burgazlii”.

They insist on support on three important issues – transparency, accountability and control in the handling of public funds by introducing appropriate mechanisms; security for citizens through optimization of video surveillance; improving the infrastructure and the urban environment, both in the CGCH and in individual neighborhoods. “Burgazlii” indicate that they are expecting the representatives of Municipal Council – Burgas who responded to the call for a meeting tomorrow at 12:00, in the office of the organization.

According to unconfirmed information, the businessman Bencho Benchev, elected for a new term, is also looking for unification with other forces in the Municipal Council – Burgas. Vladimir Pavlov from SBOR is questionable, but it is possible that he will also join some larger union, as well as the three councilors from the “Left”.

There are still many questionable factors such as “Bulgarian Rise”, ITN, SEC. KOD will most likely be in the friendly ranks of GERB, as they voiced their support for Mayor Dimitar Nikolov. The same applies to Sherafet Mehmed from DPS, who is again part of the local parliament.

If the minimum number of groups is reduced to four, it is almost certain that Vazrazhdane will not seek unification with other forces, as their national policy dictates. The same can be said about BSP. It is curious where the PP/DB elected representatives will position themselves and whether the assembly at the national level with GERB will be the same in the local parliament. It is almost certain that they will also have their own group.