Bulgarian President: I Got under Gadaffi's Skin

Politics » DOMESTIC | September 1, 2011, Thursday // 11:45
Bulgarian President: I Got under Gadaffi's Skin: Bulgarian President: I Got under Gadaffi's Skin Bulgaria's President, Georgi Parvanov, promises to present a 900-page account about his activities during his two terms in office. Photo by BGNES

The report of Bulgaria's Borisov Cabinet presented at the opening of the new Parliamentary session Wednesday is nothing but administrative chronicles, without any politics, according to Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.

The fact that this government is building highways and sports facilities is commendable, but the social policies are nowhere to be seen, ???said Parvanov who spoke for bTV Thursday morning; he added that retired people are paying the social price of the economic crisis.

"The cabinet's policy in the health care sector is total failure. We need radical reform in the sector. It did not happen during the term of the previous cabinet either. I said then that healthcare in Bulgaria is shock and horror; today I say that it is square root of shock and horror," the President stressed.

The Head of State pointed out he always appreciated the strong will of Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, a character trait that makes him different than his predecessors, "nevertheless in politics the most important quality is not charisma," but competency, he said.

Parvanov further voiced the opinion that it was better for Bulgaria to have the Three Way Coalition cabinet (Bulgaria's cabinet between 2005 and 2009, appointed by him – a coalition of the left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, of which he is a former leader, the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS, and the party of former King and PM, Simeon Saxe-Coburg – National Movement for Stability and Prosperity, NMSP) than the current informal coalition between GERB and the far-right, nationalist Ataka party because no one knows what is behind it.

The President also spoke about his negotiations with troubled Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi for the liberation of the Bulgarian medics, who were jailed in Libya on accusations of purposely infecting local children with AIDS, saying these were the most difficult talks in his life as a politician. He informed that during the meeting Gaddafi had questioned him about the destiny of former Communist dictator, Todor Zhivkov, and about Bulgarians' abandon of the socialist idea.

"I was able to get under Gaddafi's skin. My visit to Benghazi was crucial for the liberation of the medics. It made a U-turn in the saga. Others, who contributed greatly, are a British intelligence officer, French President, Nikolas Sarkozy, and then British PM, Tony Blair," Parvanov stated, adding European leaders often apply double standards towards dictators such as Gaddafi by trying to seal deals with them.

Regarding his stated intentions to return to BSP after the end of his second term, he explained that he was not striving to become party leader again and to replace the current one – former PM, Sergey Stanishev, but pointed out that only the party's Congress will resolve the matter.

The President also announced that he will present a 900-page account about his activities during his two terms in office.

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Tags: Sergey Stanishev, Congress, Todor Zhivkov, AIDS, negotiations, Bulgarian medics, Libya, Muamar Gaddafi, Ataka, NMSP, DPS, BSP, Three Way Coalition, failure, will, charisma, Boyko Borisov, Prime Minister, social policies, healthcare, GERB, terms in office, account, Georgi Parvanov, president, competency, Nicolas Sakrozy, Tony Blair

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