Kristian Vigenin to socialists in Blagoevgrad: The conversations with you give birth to ideas on how to make the BSP stronger

„How do we press the BSP’s policy, how do we strengthen the party’s influence in society, how does the BSP become the strong voice against inequalities? The meetings with you, the members and sympathisers of the party, across the whole country give birth to ideas on how this can happen. I care a great deal about the conversation with you about the future of the BSP and of Bulgaria, because it is genuine, honest and substantial.“ This was said at his meeting with members and sympathisers by the Deputy Chair of the BSP Kristian Vigenin in Blagoevgrad, the town that bears the name of the party’s founder Dimitar Blagoev.

„After the last elections we took a breath of air, and that is largely due to the unification of the left that we achieved. The coalition must develop, however, and we need to work even more on common left policies whose results are really measurable in action, because only in this way will we attract left-thinking people in Bulgaria“, Vigenin noted

For the Deputy Chair of the BSP, the party’s participation in government must be justified by the inclusion of the BSP’s priorities in the governing programme that is due to be drawn up. „How people look at us depends on how we have set out and delivered our goals. The first indicator is how the left policies will be included in Budget 2025. We are categorically against cutting social spending and the incomes of various groups. People cannot bear the burden of the budget restrictions“, Vigenin commented. He pointed out that there are ways to fill the hole in the budget: „We proposed taxing the excess profits of the banks, and it is not clear why this idea was not taken up.“ The candidate for chair of the BSP recalled that the socialists have set progressive income taxation in their programme, because the flat tax no longer has a useful effect: „Progressive taxation guarantees more fairness in society, it is right that people with higher incomes should contribute more.“ Kristian Vigenin explained that he will insist on a review of the revenue side of the budget and on more options being sought for filling it. „We have very good ideas in the programme 100 solutions for the development of Bulgaria, and I hope at least some of them will go into the government’s governing programme as well“, he added.

„A workable and clear mechanism must be created for the control and accountability of the BSP ministers before the party bodies, and dependencies must not be allowed, despite the temptations of power“, Vigenin said. In his view the question is not that a few people should get posts, but that the socialists should carry out their policies. „Let us show that we bear our responsibility. We must make an effort for this government to be useful for Bulgaria“, he urged.

Regarding the forthcoming election of a BSP chair, Kristian Vigenin noted that he sees nothing worrying in there being 17 candidates for the post: „If they have ideas for the development of the BSP, I am open to discussing them. The many candidates are an indicator that there is energy in the party. The future chair must extend a hand to everyone who wants to contribute to its development.“

„We must restore collective decision-making in the party to a greater degree. In recent years there was a retreat from this principle and it led to bad results. Collective reason produces better decisions. We need to involve the local structures more actively. For example, we can create a council of the regional chairs, who would give opinions on forthcoming decisions“, Kristian Vigenin proposed.

The Deputy Chair of the BSP again called for more opportunities for the development of young people in the BSP, but also for a firm bond between the experienced and the young, because that makes the party even stronger.

Before the meeting, Kristian Vigenin and the chairs of the BSP municipal councils in Blagoevgrad Veselin Hristov, in Sandanski Mladen Timchev and in Petrich Novko Popov laid flowers at the monument to Dimitar Blagoev.