Elections 2009 - Leaders
Volen Siderov
BIOGRAPHY
Volen Nikolov Siderov was born on April 19, 1956 in Yambol.
He received studied applied photography in his high school in Yambo, and then polygraphy and photography in Sofia in 1977-1980. In 1987, Siderov started studying Bulgarian language and literature at Sofia University, but has not completed his degree.
Before the fall of the communist regime in 1989 he worked at the National Literature Museum in Sofia as a photographer.
After the fall of Communism, Siderov became a member of the newly-established Movement for Human Rights.
During the fall of 1990, he was appointed as the editor-in-chief of The Democracy newspaper, the official newspaper of the anticommunist Union of Democratic Forces.
Siderov played a major role in establishing the paper as the official publication of the right-wing party.
In 1992, Siderov was fired from the newspaper, thus putting an end to all relations with his political partners from the UDF.
From the mid-1990s until 2003, Siderov was a journalist at the Monitor Daily becoming Deputy Editor-in-Chief in 1998. In 2000, he was presented with the award of the Union of the Bulgarian Journalists.
In 2001, Siderov tried unsuccessfully to secure for himself a spot on the Parliamentary Elections ticket of the former Tsar Simeon Saxe-Coburg's party, NMSS (NSMP).
Volen Siderov was later fired from The Monitor Daily as well, and from 2003 until 2005 he came to be the host of "Ataka" ("Attack"), a talk show on the Bulgarian cable TV channel "SKAT". In it, he chastised the perceived corruption of the Bulgarian political establishment and blamed Bulgaria's poor economic condition on the ethnic minorities.
In 2002-2003, Siderov started studying theology at the University of Shumen but has not completed his degree. He was supposed to take an exam there in April 2007 but did not show up because of the great media interest. In May 2009, the Shumen University announced that Siderov had graduated with a degree in theology after studying on an individual program.
Siderov is the author of three books: "The Boomerang of Evil", "The Power of the Mammon", and "Bulgarophobia". All three are dedicated to the world conspiracy and the anti-Bulgarian policies of certain people and circles in Bulgaria, and abroad.
During the 2003 local elections Siderov ran for mayor of Sofia on the ticket of the marginal Bulgarian Agrarian National Union-National Association Party. He received a total of 1 728 votes, or 0,45%.
In April, 2005, Siderov set up the Ataka political party, which was officially registered in court in July 2005. "Ataka" participated in the Bulgarian Parliament Elections in June 2005 as the National Union "Ataka". The Union was formed by the National Movement for the Salvation of the Fatherland, the Bulgarian National Patriotic Party, the Union of Patriotic Forces and Reservist Officers, and the political party "Ataka".
The coalition was created just two months before the elections, because Ataka's registration as a political party in court was delayed, and it was not able to participate in the elections by itself.
In June 2005, Ataka (then running as a coalition of a few marginally known parties) received 8,2% (297 000 votes) in the Parliamentary Elections, coming in fourth, and got 21 MPs in the 240-seat Bulgarian Parliament.
After that, however, the parliamentary group of the party was shattered by internal dissent, rows, and scandals, which led to the expelling of many of its members, eventually reducing the group to 11 MPs.
In May 2007, Ataka came in forth in Bulgaria's first ever European Parliament Elections with 14,20% (275 000 votes), and got 3 MEPs.
Siderov ran for President in the 2006 Presidential Elections. In the first round on October 22, 2006, he received 21% of the vote and qualified for the runoff on October 29, 2009, against BSP's candidate, Georgi Parvanov, who had 65%.
Parvanov was not declared the winner after the first round because, in accordance with Bulgarian electoral law, at least 50% of all eligible voters had to take part in the elections. In the second round, Siderov lost receiving about 24% of the vote (597 000 votes for Siderov vs. 1 780 000 votes for Parvanov).
He has been involved in a number of scandals and court sagas, notably a notorious car accident on the Trakiya highway. Siderov claimed that the incident had been an "assassination attempt".
On February 23, 2007 Volen Siderov together with about 50 representatives of his party and supporters stormed the offices of the "168 Hours" weekly newspaper. Another group of about 100 people were waiting for a signal to attack the building in front of it.
The Ataka crowd was irritated by an article published in the "168 Hours" which stated that the ethnic Turkish party DPS had funded the nationalist party Ataka with BGN 1,6 M in order to use its appearance to boost its own vote (comprised mainly of ethnic minorities).
In 2006, Siderov married his long-time girlfriend, journalist Kapka Georgieva, at a ceremony in the Southern Bulgarian city of Kardzhali. Siderov himself does not have any children but is known to be really close to his stepson, Georgieva's son Dimitar Stoyanov, who has grown politically in Siderov's party, "Ataka".
VIEWS
After being a proponent of Western-style reforms, NATO, and the USA in the early 1990s, towards the end of the 1990s, Siderov has started to write on the world conspiracy and anti-Bulgarian policies, and to engage in generally anti-Western rhetoric.
He has also spoken against what he describes as the discrimination against ethnic Bulgarians in their own state. This is related to the non-prosecution by the state of crimes committed by ethnic minorities and the free provision to certain ethnic groups of social services that have been denied to ordinary Bulgarians.
Siderov has been stigmatized and rejected as a populist and a xenophobe by virtually the entire Bulgarian establishment, including the mainstream media and political parties.
Siderov is known as being an extremely powerful public speaker. Over the last few years he has often gather crowds of Ataka supporters for street rallies on various occasions.
PUBLIC SERVICE RECORD
2005-2009 - Member of Parliament from the Ataka party
ELECTORAL PERFORMANCE
In the 2003 local elections Siderov ran for mayor of Sofia on the ticket of the marginal Bulgarian Agrarian National Union-National Association Party. He received a total of 1 728 votes, or 0,45%.
In June 2005, Ataka (then running as a coalition of a few marginally known parties) received 8,2% (297 000 votes) in the Parliamentary Elections, coming in fourth, and got 21 MPs in the 240-seat Bulgarian Parliament; as party leader, Siderov became a MP.
In May 2007, Ataka came in forth in Bulgaria's first ever European Parliament Elections with 14,20% (275 000 votes), and got 3 MEPs.
Siderov ran for President in the 2006 Presidential Elections. In the first round on October 22, 2006, he received 21% of the votes and qualified for the runoff on October 29, 2009, against BSP's candidate, Georgi Parvanov, who had 65%. Parvanov was not declared the winner after the first round because in accordance with Bulgarian electoral law, at least 50% of all eligible voters had to take part in the elections. In the second round, Siderov lost receiving about 24% of the vote (597 000 votes) vs. 76% (1 780 000 votes) for Parvanov.
