Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov knows he should be more than careful in his staff policy, which has often been a washout with dire consequences.

Unfortunately he just can't help being a populist.

Suffice it to mention the case of Kalina Ilieva, former head of a Bulgarian agency overseeing hundreds of millions of euros in EU farm aid, who was disgraced and dismissed for producing a fake diploma. But that was all.

This week offered other four striking examples of shoddiness and corruption in high-level state appointments – the health fund and irrigation system heads, the registry agency chief and a deputy health minister were kicked out after media-triggered scandals.

(Of course, nothing compares to the unprecedented scandal that the pitiful performance of Rumiana Jeleva triggered in the European Parliament two years ago, but that's another story.)

Now what?

The scenario is well known. Borisov turns into Pontius Pilate, hoping that the average Bulgarian voter rarely looks at substance over appearance and is ready to believe any "savior". The trespassers are publicly executed. He washes his hands to show that he was not responsible for their execution, it was their own fault.

But here is the Bulgarian twist in this particular portrayal of Pontius Pilate's character. The executions are followed by no legal consequences, no real steps to investigate and stop abuses, no explanations as to why now and not earlier.

Borisov has long ago forged past his doubts, set aside any perfectionist tendencies and started to experiment. It may take trial and error but, as the saying goes, throw some spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks. This is what he must be thinking.

But isn't it too late for that approach? Do Bulgarians still believe in the savior, who will rid the land (and state departments) of the plagues?

I don't think so. They are just too tired for that.

Unfortunately they also seem to be too tired to care where the cracks in Borisov's resolve for deep change come from.

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