Photos: Diana Zhelyazkova
The hottest topic in the Shumen municipality of Venets is not the anti-government protests, but the tension that has been going on for weeks due to the planned replacement of the Principal of the Secondary School “N. Vaptsarov” Selime Kardzhalieva. The school is the only school in the Deliorman municipality, and its principal is a public figure – a former Deputy Regional Governor of Shumen. Now, however, her position has surprisingly been announced in a competition by order of the head of the Regional Department of Education (RDE) in Shumen, Julian Todorov.
There would be nothing strange in the competition if it were not for the essential detail that the principal’s position in the school is not vacant. The titular is the mayor of Venets, Nehriban Ahmedova, and Kardzhalieva has been appointed as Principal by substitution, and her employment contract explicitly states that she will hold the position “until the titular returns.” This, according to well established legal advisors on labor legislation, means that the order to announce a competition for such a place is illegal.
The same position is defended by both trade unions in the school – CITUB and LC “Support”, which gave a special press conference in Shumen and said they were ready to defend the principal by all legal means, including strikes.
What is hidden behind the replacement of the principal?
“I am being fired because I am fighting for the school lands” – this is how Selime Kardzhalieva sums up her surprising dismissal. And according to her, as well according to the trade unionists and according to many of the local people in Venets, economic interests are behind its dismissal. The real reason for my dismissal is the school lands, for the salvation of which I am suing, says Karzhalieva. This was pointed out to journalists by the representatives of both trade unions.
It is about 311 decares of school lands in Venets, which two years ago were illegally leased by the school board, without the permission of the school principal. Therefore, she is suing for the return of the lands to the school and has already won in the first instance, and in a few days the decision is expected in the second instance.
However, the tenant of the land is by no means an accidental person. The tenant Ilter Beyzat is the son of Beyzat Yahya, named as one of the most influential people in Northeastern Bulgaria, a longtime MRF activist and chairman of the municipal council in Venets, an unofficial host of the government’s favorite hunting lodge “Palamara” and a MRF personnel officer in Deliorman until last year, when he was expelled from the party for playing games with GERB.
The contract for 311 decares of school land, concluded with his son, Kardzhalieva herself and the unions define as scandalous. The lands have been leased for 20 years, and in the first two years the school will receive only BGN 2 per decare! Another “small” detail is that the then chairman of the school board, Rubil Rufi, who signed the contract, is currently working for Mr. Yahya, says Selime Kardjalieva. And she adds: The school has about 400 decares, and all of them have been looted!
For comparison, in Venets the average price of agricultural land is BGN 964 per decare – officially, unofficially they are probably well over BGN 1000, and the average rent is BGN 53 per decare.
The principal explains that “the tenant is waiting when I will be fired and to reap his fields, and the lands may become his property in 20 years, there are some such gaps.”
By a Decision of November 14, 2019, the Shumen District Court declared the contract for lease of school lands invalid, as it was concluded by a person who has no representative authority. The court ordered the tenant, the company “IlBeSe” EOOD to hand over the lands to the school. A month ago, the case was heard at second instance. On the same day, an order for a competition for her position appeared on the website of the Regional Department of Education (RDE) – Shumen. According to Kardzhalieva, this is not accidental at all. They will try to remove me in any way so that the new principal can sign a legal contract for land lease, Karzhalieva is convinced.
She has sent a complaint to the Minister of Education, Krassimir Valchev, in which she says: “Due to a lawsuit over the agricultural lands owned by the school and illegally leased by the school board to a local businessman with particularly strong political influence in the area, a campaign for dismissal has been launched against me.” Both unions have sent signals about the case, urging the Minister of Education to stop the illegal competition for the school in Venets. The union’s letter was also signed by all 39 people working with the secondary school in Venets.
The principal also suspects a political order
Apart from the economic interests, which are the main ones in the case, according to Selime Kardzhalieva, she also suspects a political order. It is a public secret that the ruling GERB party wants to enter into the Municipality of Venets, considered to be a bastion of the MRF, and probably hopes to achieve it through Beyzat Yahya. “He is known as the personnel officer in these areas and he will now appoint only GERB people to the state services,” Kardzhalieva predicted.
The irony in this case is that she and her husband – Orhan Kardjaliev, are the founders of GERB in the municipality of Venets. The two of them created the municipal structure of GERB back in 2008 and are now among the last “surviving” founders of the party in the region. But probably not for long. “From the very beginning, we “were fighting “with Beyzat, who then ruled Deliorman through the MRF, because of him we became supporters of GERB, because we believed then that Boyko Borissov would stop such people,” Orhan Kardzhaliev said in plain text. And he commented with indignation: Because of Beyzat Yahya so far we were not allowed to develop ourselves in the municipality, and finally he transferred to GERB and we became political corpses!
Selime Kardzhalieva herself was among the faces of GERB in Deliorman last 10 years – she was twice on the list of MEPs, several times on the list of MPs, she was deputy Regional Governor, and is still a member of the national council of GERB – women.
“I have done nothing against the party, but suddenly they decided that I was no longer active and that is why I should be fired. This was decided at local level, they told me so, “explains the indignant founder of GERB. To the question: Didn’t you ask for explanations from Lyubomir Hristov /the mayor of Shumen, note of editor/, he is the regional coordinator of the party, because he has to give you some explanation?, Kardzhalieva answered: Why should I call him? He is aware of everything, it has been decided that in Venets their man is already Beyzat Yahya, he will create a structure of GERB there.”At the time when we were creating GERB in Venets, Lubo Hristov was boasting that he would not allow the MRF to do illegal things, that he would protect us from repressions and political dismissals. And now he’s firing me! He must have forgotten what he promised us,” says Selime Kardzhalieva. And she sums it up: I have to be a hero because I fight for the school lands, and they fire me! To save the lands and to get rid of me – is this a proper country?, asks Kardzhalieva rhetorically.
We asked for a comment the head of the RDE – Shumen Julian Todorov. On the phone, he was succinct: The order for the competition is completely legal! “Selime Kardjalieva has not been fired, my order is for announcing a competition, I have written the grounds for issuing the order, it has been published, and Mrs. Kardjalieva can do whatever she deems good,” said the head of the education inspectorate.
We also asked questions to the Ministry of Education and Science, but the press service of the ministry has not responded for more than a week.
Meanwhile, the unions gave a press conference to express their position. The competition is illegal, and the change of the principal is a self-righteousness with her, because she is trying to save the school lands – this was stated to journalists by the leaders of the two unions at the Secondary School “N. Vaptsarov” – Dimitar Dimitrov from LC “Support” and Tatiana Docheva from CITUB. Almost all teachers from Venets came to the press conference hall to express their support for Selime Kardzhalieva.
“We knew that the battle for the return of land against such people would be long and difficult, and now the principal is paying the price,” said unionist Tatiana Docheva. According to municipal councilor and lawyer Daniela Ruseva, the position of school principal in Venets is not vacant, so announcing a competition for the position is illegal. There is no such precedent in the whole of Bulgaria – to announce a competition for a place by substitution, stressed the representative of LC “Support” as well. If a new principal is still appointed, there is a very good chance that Selime Kardzhalieva will win a lawsuit for her illegal dismissal and be reinstated, lawyer Ruseva predicts.
Meanwhile, the school in Venets was inspected by the Ministry of Education and Science regarding the complaints of the unions and teachers. It is strange why, however, the inspectors dealt only with the school lands and not with the announced competition, the teachers said.
This is not the end
At the end of last week, the Shumen District Court issued a precautionary order in a civil case filed by Kardzhalieva against announcing a competition for her position. The court suspended the procedure for conducting the competition until the case is closed.
However, the announcement for the competition was on the website of RDE – Shumen until yesterday. Only after the intervention of a bailiff, the announcement was removed, but the head of the inspectorate stated that they would appeal the court decision. “Probably now they will look for other ways to remove me, they can dismiss me disciplinary with some imaginary motives,” says Selime Kardzhalieva. And she is convinced – this is not the end of the story, because in Deliorman the backstage is very strong…
