The results from the vote on June 9, following the announcement of the distribution of mandates by the Central Election Commission, reveal a clear picture.
In reality, however, the DPS deputy is going to the National Assembly at the behest of the voters from four Sevlievo villages. This is the correct interpretation of the voting results by sections in the Gabrovo region.
What do the numbers say?
Out of the total 1,563 votes received for DPS, nearly half come from the villages of Krushevo, Gradnitsa, Petko Slaveykov, and Ryakhovtsi in the Sevlievo municipality. The total from these votes is just under a thousand. The voters for the party opted to cast their ballots using paper tickets, with only 63 voting via machine.
In the regional center, Gabrovo, 191 voters supported DPS, according to the data from both paper and machine voting. In the villages of Gabrovo municipality, Peevski’s followers garnered just 54 votes. Undoubtedly, this is a negligible level of support that does not ensure representation for the voters from Gabrovo municipality.
DPS is not among the preferred parties for voters in Dryanovo and Tryavna. In Dryanovo municipality, the party received only 55 votes, while in Tryavna it garnered just 18 votes. There was even a single vote for DPS from Plachkovtsi, a town in Tryavna municipality.
These calculations, based on the protocols from the sectional election commissions in the Gabrovo electoral district, reveal that trust in DPS is negligible, with the party primarily favored only by voters from Sevlievo villages.
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In the village of Gradnitsa, located in the Sevlievo municipality, DPS received 202 votes out of 349 ballots cast in the two sections of the village. The high civic and electoral engagement of the residents is notable, with a turnout of 38.4%.
In the village of Petko Slaveykov, where the predominant population is of Turkish ethnicity, DPS received 280 votes from 352 participants. Only seven of these were cast using voting machines, and the electoral activity in the village was nearly 41%. In comparison, the data from the Gabrovo District Election Commission indicates an overall voter turnout in the region of just 29.21%.
In the village of Ryakhovtsi, DPS obtained 258 votes from 361 voters, with a voter turnout of 48%. In the village of Krushevo, which was once referred to as the communist stronghold, DPS now dominates with 88 votes out of 151 valid ballots, representing a turnout of nearly 47%.
Thus, with the votes from these four villages, DPS accumulated half of its total support on June 9 of this year.
This Has Been the Case for Years
In fact, Sevlievo is where DPS has played a key role in local governance for many years. Even during the time when the BSP was in charge of the municipality, DPS was relied upon both during local elections and in decision-making within the Municipal Council.
With the rise of GERB to power in Sevlievo, this dynamic did not change. DPS is again relied upon for votes during local elections as well as for support in the Municipal Council. As a gesture of gratitude and to strengthen these relationships, those in power have historically rewarded DPS with a deputy mayor position, typically overseeing a portfolio that holds little actual influence. During the BSP era, this was related to European integration; now, it concerns public order and security, with the post held by the regional leader of DPS.
In this term of governance, GERB has even gone overboard in their sycophancy by making the leader of the group in the Municipal Council the vice-chairman of the Council. Not that such a position is necessary, as it never has been. However, the chairman of the Council clearly and distinctly states “vice-chairman of the Municipal Council” at every meeting when giving the floor to Ismail Hadjihasan from DPS. One cannot miss the effort to emphasize Hadjihasan’s role in local politics, even though he has not distinguished himself in his work during his second term.
Not Just Any Candidate, But Exactly This Candidate
And while the discussion has centered around support for DPS, it should not be overlooked that their effort is not just to send any representative from Gabrovo to parliament, but specifically Yusein Veyselov. This is the same Veyselov who, in 2023, failed to appear at a court hearing initiated by the prosecution on charges of causing death by negligence.
Instead of appearing in court, Veyselov attended a meeting with Ilhan Kyuchyuk in Veliko Tarnovo, and shortly thereafter, he registered the DPS list for the upcoming parliamentary elections. He accomplished all of this despite his reportedly poor health, as evidenced by the arguments he presented to the court for his absence from the hearing against him. However, the court took into account media reports highlighting Veyselov’s activities, and after initially postponing the case until his health improved, it was quickly resumed on the grounds that Veyselov had “placed his personal interests above those of justice.”
At this point, it no longer matters who places their personal interests where.
Veyselov received a suspended sentence and is once again a member of parliament with support from just over 1,500 votes in his electoral district. The law allows it, even though, as a party leader stated, “the sovereign has spoken.”
