Kristian Vigenin in Veliko Tarnovo: Let us be uncompromising towards corruption and dependencies

„We must be implacable towards any corrupt practices whatsoever. Socialists and BSP sympathisers are extremely sensitive on this question, and we must be uncompromising, even towards suspicions of dependencies and corruption. That way we will keep our face in government. Only if we allow no actions that contradict our ideas and views, with firmness and consistency, can we come out of this government with dignity and stronger.“ This was stated at a meeting with socialists from Veliko Tarnovo by the Deputy Chair and candidate for chair of the BSP Kristian Vigenin. He emphasised that the party’s new political programme must take account of the new realities, so that the socialists find themselves in the new environment. He said that the party congress will consider the main directions for the development of the BSP, in the drafting of which he is himself an active participant.

„Before we take the important decisions, we must hear the party. The municipal and regional structures are very valuable as active participants in shaping future left policies“, Kristian Vigenin said, presenting another of his ideas. He is opposed to positions being imposed from above, because when more people are engaged with the problems the solutions are better. If the socialists give him their confidence to be chair of the BSP, Kristian Vigenin intends to create a Council of the Regional Chairs so that there is more active communication between them and the national leadership. „We need to end the practice of decisions being taken only in Sofia, without taking account of the real problems and of the solutions proposed locally“, he is convinced.

„The unprincipled confrontation within the party must stop. Let us unite people and give them a cause. Instead of using so much energy in internal party battles, let us direct our energy outwards, towards achieving constructive left solutions that people expect from us“, Kristian Vigenin urged. He gave the example of a good cause of the socialists in Veliko Tarnovo, when he led the national list of candidates for parliament, the restored gravestone of Nikola Gabrovski and his wife Maria Gabrovska in Druzhba Park.

A full review of the organisation

If he is elected chair of the BSP, Vigenin intends to carry out a full review of the organisational state of the party against clear criteria, so that individual recovery measures can be applied to each of the organisations, tailored to their problems and their specific features. In his view it is imperative that there be a fair distribution of the state subsidy to the party’s local structures so that they can be effective.

„I am fully aware of how difficult a task the next chair has. I am aware of what it will cost me and how complex the situation is. I have been committed to the BSP since I was at school, and in 1994 I was among the founders of the party’s new youth organisation.

I have lived through all the party’s moments, both the successes and the collapses. Everything I propose is based on the experience I have gathered. I want a better future for the party. I believe I can cope and be an effective chair. The moment is critical, and failure now could cost us the chance to return as a leading parliamentary force. Together we can change the direction!“, this is how Kristian Vigenin emotionally justified his decision to stand for chair of the BSP.