DPS in Gabrovo and the BSP at “Pozitano” have not spoken the same language for years, but this time the divergence has crossed into the realm of reasonableness. After yet again deciding to override the will of local socialists and send someone from Sofia to lead their list, BSP faces a clear risk of once again being without a deputy.
This storyline has played out in Gabrovo before, and the ending has never been a happy one. However, that does not prevent the Sofia headquarters from attempting to replay it, risking their audience dwindling to a few.
The plot remains the same; only the actors are different.
In February 2021, socialists in Gabrovo firmly supported Kristina Sidorova’s nomination as the leader of their list for the April elections. At the municipal conference of BSP in Gabrovo, out of 76 delegates, 66 voted for her, making her the undisputed favorite to head the party list in the Seventh Gabrovo multi-mandate electoral district. However, there was one problem. During the BSP leadership elections, Sidorova openly backed Kiril Dobrev, and Ninova’s revenge came just before the parliamentary elections.
Instead of hearing the voice of the socialists in Gabrovo, the decision of the leader was enforced, and the unknown political figure, auto racer Krum Donchev, was named head of the list. Kristina Sidorova ended up in second place.
Revenge as Punishment
This was a clear political assassination of Sidorova, as it was evident to all that the BSP in Gabrovo, whose votes were melting away like ice cream in the sun, had absolutely no chance of securing votes for two mandates, and the possibility of the second replacing the first was impossible even in theory.
By the way, at that time, even securing one mandate for BSP remained uncertain. Due to the difficult-to-grasp party building efforts of Kornelia Ninova, trust in the party in the region plummeted literally by half—from 16,000 votes in the previous parliamentary elections to just under 8,000 votes on April 4, 2021.
Three months later, the votes dwindled to below 6,000, and by November of that year, they had fallen to under 4,000, remaining at that level with a tendency to drop further if one considers the results from April 2, 2023, when nearly 3,300 voters cast their ballots for BSP.
No Changes in Direction
As a result of all this, during the extraordinary parliamentary elections in November 2021 and October 2022, BSP was left without a deputy from Gabrovo. This trend was interrupted by Dragomir Stoynev, who managed to secure a mandate on April 2, 2023. However, since he was elected in another electoral district as well, he declined the seat in Gabrovo in favor of the second candidate on the list, Valeri Mitov.
Today, the story of Kristina Sidorova, from whom the decline of BSP in Gabrovo began, is repeating itself almost identically. Instead of the local Valeri Mitov, who was a deputy in the 49th National Assembly and the regional leader of BSP in Gabrovo and had the support of local socialists, “Pozitano” has sent down the Sofia-based Ivan Chenev as the leader of the list.
The Preferred Ally
Chenev is a deputy in eight parliaments and is likely among Kornelia Ninova’s favorites. A review of Facebook profiles reveals that in most recent photos from party events, he is closely beside her.
For the elections on June 9, he is the leader of the socialists’ list in the 26th multi-mandate electoral district of Sofia, from which he has been elected in recent years.
By the way, there is one detail that Chenev is likely counting on for the vote on June 9. He is a distant descendant of the Chenevi family, which is deeply respected in Sevlievo—one of the four municipalities in Gabrovo province. The Velika and Georgi Chenevi family had no children and left all their property and cash savings for the construction of an orphanage, “under the name ‘Georgi and Velika Chenevi,’ to be established for all time, which would take in and raise poor orphaned children,” as stated in Velika Cheneva’s will from February 1923.
This is, in fact, Chenev’s connection to the Gabrovo region. As a continuation of this legacy, he initiated the presentation of a photo exhibition by Sevlievo photographers in the building of the National Assembly.
Whether this is enough for socialists from the Gabrovo region to recognize Ivan Chenev as their deputy remains to be seen. It is also interesting to consider how, if they are furious with Ninova, they will express this to her. Because, aside from Dryanovo, the BSP has nearly exhausted its votes in Gabrovo province, and the possibilities for rehabilitating the party among voters are minimal. Furthermore, in some areas, BSP municipal councilors have stopped hiding their support for GERB, which is definitely a problem for the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which considers itself a serious opposition. However, Ninova may not be aware of this, as her connection with the party at the local level has long been severed.
