“Our goal is to be able to implement the important policies for our voters and for Bulgaria. For that,  you can not just stand on the sidelines and be angry with those in power. That is why the BSP decided to join the next government.”, said Kristian Vigenin, Deputy Chairman of BSP and Head of the Delegation of the Bulgarian Socialists in the EP.  He pointed out that the main ideas of the BSP representatives are included in the agreement between the parties, which should be developed into a governance program.

Kristian Vigenin stressed that he was one of the socialists who were sceptical about the BSP involvent in the government because he doubted whether the left policies would be defended in the negotiations and would then find a place in the program. So we will be very careful about what is coming. The BSP Deputy Chairman said he had spoken to many of the party members and the shared attitude was to participate in government as a way for the socialists to implement policies through, otherwise they were to remain in deaf opposition.

Vigenin noted the highly hysterical political life and the role of the BSP in this situation: “We have done our best in these months to at least encourage the parties to start talking. And this happened. This enabled us to have a more normal atmosphere in which the negotiations for future government could take place. Yes, there are risks, of course. In my speech at the National Council I raised more than one and two questions in this regard.” He pointed out that, once the decision is taken, it is about working for success without arguing: “If we are responsible in our approach to the country as well, we will be able to prove ourselves as a party that governs effectively and that has done good things for ordinary people.” Kristian Vigenin thinks that the fact that BSP is in government guarantees, for example, that the budget will not be too restrictive for different social groups. The participation of DPS-Dogan in the government is a kind of additional barrier to Delyan Peevski, the BSP Deputy Chairman added.

Kristian Vigenin pointed out that the policies of the new government will be monitored. “For me it is important that BSP as a party still has its own mechanisms of control over the government, a mechanism of accountability of our representatives in power, to ensure that this government will not just be social, but transparent, truthful; that it will continue the fight against corruption and questionable practices that we are familiar with from previous periods.”

On the occasion of his decision to run for the BSP leadership, Kristian Vigenin believes that the election should not be a battle: “A conversation  about policies, about what is important for the BSP, what is important for Bulgaria, how to make the BSP stronger is needed. At least, these are my intentions. I will be absolutely positive. I think that the time when we could afford to insult each other in the media, to quarrel with each other is in the past. We have to be positive now, because this is our responsibility to the left as a whole, but also to Bulgaria, because Bulgaria needs a strong BSP. I will make my contribution to make it happen.”