From January 22 to September 10, 2025, the Municipal Council in Borino held 12 meetings and adopted 88 decisions. A review of the minutes published on October 3, 2025, conducted by “Za Istinata” (For the Truth), reveals a repetition of scenes from the same movie. The report is read, and Chairman Seydi Sherifov gives the floor for comments. The first councilor to speak proposes ending the discussion and moving on to a vote—almost always unanimous. And so it goes, 88 times. Without a single comment, not even to imitate a discussion.
Voting on autopilot
The “termination of discussions” procedure is proposed almost reflexively. Most often by Nejat Veliev, less often by Mehmed Usev and Behije Useva. The political picture in Borino explains the mechanical unanimity to some extent: The municipal council consists of 11 councillors – 10 from the DPS and one from GERB. The mayor of the municipality, Mustafa Karaahmed, entered his third term without competition – no party other than the DPS nominated a candidate – and won with over 91% of the vote.
There are no debates even when the regional governor returns decisions. The review follows the same pattern—reading of the report, proposal for termination, voting. And when discussing the budget – where priorities, risks and the direction of public money are determined – there is not a single argument “for” or “against”, not a single question to the administration. Just voting.
A rubber stamp on a blank page
The municipal council is conceived as a forum for local interests – a place where different points of view meet, debate, are corrected and, most importantly, are heard. The minutes from Borino show something else – a local parliament without opinions. The council seems to have been reduced to a rubber stamp for the executive power in the person of the mayor. The political domination of the DPS is complete, and the conflict of ideas that is natural to democracy is absent. Neither in the case of flawed decisions, returned because of illegality, nor in the case of people’s money – the budget.
A small light at the end of the protocol
Until October 3, 2025, there was not a single protocol from a municipal council meeting on the Borino Municipality website. After I submitted a request under the Access to Public Information Act (APIA) on September 19, 2025, asking “Where and in what format are the minutes of the meetings published?”, 12 minutes for 2025 appeared. On October 7, 2025, I received a response to my request stating that the minutes had been published. They were scanned, not in text format, but it was still a step forward. And for Borino, where there is a thick veil of secrecy, this is not insignificant. Because on the website – almost two years after the local elections – even the names of the municipal councilors are missing. There are no questions to the mayor either, but after the same request under the Access to Public Information Act, there is now an empty register – a visible sign that no one in the Borino Municipal Council asks questions, they just vote.
