Boris Bonev, leader of Save Sofia, is a young man with great ambitions. So big that it seemed possible for him, with five years of experience in the Metropolitan Municipal Council, to jump into the mayor’s chair – the fifth position in the state.
Before spring the assertive Bonev almost self-promoted his candidacy for mayor of the capital, but then someone broke his ambition and he reduced it – “Save Sofia” supported Vasil Terziev. Then, when concluding the coalition agreement of “Save Sofia” with PP – DB, it was implied that Bonev will be the candidate of the coalition for the head of the municipal council. However, the unification took only 23 seats in the Council – not half, but one third. And he can’t drive comfortably. On the other hand, PP-DB and “Save Sofia” are so self-absorbed and arrogant that from the first day they demonstrated sham self-sufficiency. And naturally they stumbled. When you don’t have a majority and you haven’t secured support, disaster is a fact.
The first vote to elect the president of the SOS failed. No one got enough votes.
And the bright truth – Boris Bonev does not become chairman of the SOS.
Why?
Because it does not enjoy sufficient political support in the SOS – this is obvious, with 23 votes in the 61-member Council and no allies you cannot head it.
It is debatable whether Bonev has sufficient weight in the coalition itself with the PP-DB. The newly elected mayor Vasil Terziev, who had just taken office, did not categorically support him, by not directly answering the journalist’s question whether the coalition is ready to sacrifice Boris Bonev. Instead, he said he would “initiate a meeting with all political parties” to find a way to reduce tensions and “move towards having a functioning municipal council”.
In these meetings, Terziev will learn something that he has surely already heard, but now he will find out that it represents a serious obstacle to Bonev’s ambitions to manage according to the new SOS – that he entered into collaborations with the previous managers of SOS, with GERB.
Remember that the votes that Bonev received in 2019 were enough for a group in SOS, but he preferred to play individually, entered SOS alone and thus ensured the comfort of GERB in the capital.
Terziev will learn that Bonev is neither the new nor the change in the metropolitan council, on the contrary – he is a symbol of financial dependence, of well-paid protest in the capital. Because how else do you become the highest paid municipal councilor? In the previous SOS, Bonev participated in all councils and commissions and well-paid boards. In just a few years of residence in the Capital Municipality, Borisov Bonev accumulated over BGN 60,000 in savings in a bank – according to his official declaration to KPCONPI.
Residents of Sofia remember how, as soon as he appeared on the public stage, Bonev declared that he had to stop the construction of the subway and although he almost immediately repeatedly denied it, he was not forgiven.
According to old municipal officials, yes many of Bonev’s ideas for managing the capital are, to put it mildly, extravagant and will not gain wide support. They also talk about his way of working with the sentence “I said” forward, which is also unlikely to cause mass enthusiasm to vote for his candidacy.
Bonev gave evidence in this direction, stating in a categorical tone: “We’re looking for support from everyone without GERD!”
Of which “all”? Is it from the BSP, who will immediately raise the issue of the Ukrainian flag on the facade of Moskovskaya 33 and the Monument to the Soviet Army?
From “Vazrazhdane”, who, apart from these two things, will raise the issue of banning gay parades. And even if Bonev somehow secures the support of “Vazrazhdane”, he will immediately lose that of DB, because the formation decided against any coalition with Kostadin Kostadinov’s people.
And the remaining councilors – from KOD, ITN, VMRO and independents – are insufficient to secure the much-needed 31 votes. Not to mention that many of them showed that they are not burning with desire to support Bonev.
Bonev’s formula – “everyone without GERD” is not working at the momentwhen the country is governed by GERB – SDS and PP – DB.
Sofia is too big a “stone” to be surrounded by some local “assembly”. The leaders of these parties are in the crossfire every day because of the assembly, they are unlikely to withstand an attack because of some other kind of assembly at the Sofia level. Because whatever the municipal officials do even in Varna and Plovdiv, it stays in Varna and Plovdiv. But what happens on the yellow cobblestones is of national importance.
And because of all this Bonev will find out the hard way that he will not head the SOS. That with a little noise on Facebook and a little putting flyers into the hands of passers-by on Vitosha Blvd., you cannot jump straight into big politics. Much more is needed for this purpose. First of all – enough votes in the elections.
Otherwise, yes – Boris Bonev is a young man with great ambitions, which, however, are unlikely to come true. Because public support does not accumulate with arrogance and behind the scenes.
