Nikolay Malinov, Publisher of Duma daily: I will improve the position of BSP in Sofia

- Mr. Malinov, is it clear now who will win the leadership post in the Socialist Party at the forthcoming congress, after the number of nominations made by the local structures was established?
- The municipal nominations were in favour of Stanishev. At the 262 conferences held so far, the Chairman of BSP has received 160 nominations and Georgi Parvanov - 69. The nominations are indicative, but they cannot be deemed an automatic victory. I'm sure that a good portion of the delegates will support each of them but the vote will depend on the behaviour of the candidates at the congress itself, on the atmosphere of the congress. I have clearly stated my preference, and it is in favour of Sergei Stanishev. My personal forecast coincides with my choice.

- How would you interpret the strategy of Georgi Parvanov to enter the battle for party Chairman immediately after having left the presidential position?
- Competition for the leadership post is normal for the Socialist Parties in Europe. Nobody makes a drama of it. The loser is not branded or ejected; he remains part of the constellation of strong personalities within the party. In France, for example Hollande lost the battle with Martine Aubry. Now, he is President of the country. My personal opinion is that, in this case, Parvanov had to wait for the election of the President of the Party of European Socialists. In this particular situation, his candidacy poses a problem for BSP and the party recognition as a factor in the European socialist family.

- If Parvanov loses the fight with Stanishev on May 19, what do you expect his future in the party to be?
- Parvanov has not lost his chances to become Chairman of BSP. Everything or almost everything depends on his behaviour. It is theoretically possible to revive the idea of his political project Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABR)

- You are a candidate for the position Chairman of the BSP organisation in Sofia. Can this be interpreted as willingness to stand for Mayor of the capital? Why have you decided to enter more actively in politics right now?
- Is it too early? Maybe I should wait until I am 50, have a nice birthday party and say that I am mature enough for politics. I have ideas, I have experience, I have energy and a strong willingness to be engaged in politics. I think that this is enough. My candidacy for Chairman of the BSP organisation in Sofia can be correctly interpreted in one single way - I want to improve the condition of this organisation, to increase its power. I do not necessarily consider it a springboard to the executive power. But this is a good option for career development in politics.

- Several days ago, Freedom House published its Freedom of the Press 2012 ranking where Russia occupies the 172nd place out of 197 countries. It’s position is in the lowest category in terms of media independence – among the non-free countries. How would you comment on this fact from the point of view of a newspaper publisher?
- Perhaps, Russia has a problem with freedom of speech, just as Singapore has such a problem, according to the survey of Freedom House. Singapore lags far behind Bulgaria in this ranking. At the same time, countries like Benin and Namibia are ahead of us. But let me question the impartiality of this survey. I cannot see how a significant improvement could be noticed in Georgia and Kosovo without a dose of political bias.

- BSP is growing more and more senile. Is it possible for the Socialist Party to ever return to the forefront of the Bulgarian political scene considering that BSP members continue to address each other as “comrade” at party congresses? According to analysts, BSP has not turned into a really modern European party.
- Compared to the other parties, BSP has the largest number of organised young members. Ageing is a fact, but BSP is not an isolated case. Today, young people are not keen to be organisationally bound. Nevertheless, I have seen a number of young people joining BSP. If you look at the structure of voters at the presidential elections in 2011, you will find that the percentage of young people who voted for Kalfin at the run-offs, did not differ very much from the percentage on the national level. People aged between 18 and 35 years were 20% and the national level was 26%. People aged 36 to 50 were 24% and the national level was 27%. Are you describing as “ageing” this 44% of voters under 50? What does the “ever” mean? Most of the media tend to write BSP off and, afterwards, hurry to explain what has happened. We saw this in 1994 and at the presidential elections in 2001 when some predicted a 3rd and others - a 4th place for Georgi Parvanov in the contest for the post. This happened at the parliamentary elections in 2005 as well. Don’t be in a hurry to write BSP off from the forefront of the Bulgarian political scene.

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