Turbulence rocks Bulgaria’s WCC party as Sofia corruption row continues
Turbulence continued to rock the We Continue the Change party – part of the WCC-Democratic Bulgaria coalition, Parliament’s second-largest group – on June 26, with more resignations of party members against the background of alleged corruption involving party figures and Sofia municipal government.
A day earlier, former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said that he was resigning as co-leader of WCC and as a member of Parliament, saying that he was taking personal responsibility for misjudgment in deployment of party personnel in Sofia.
Those who announced their resignations from the party on June 26 cited not only the allegations involving attempts to skew public procurement procedures in Sofia, but also disillusionment and disappointment with the top-down way that WCC is run.
Petkov’s resignation leaves his co-founder and former finance minister Assen Vassilev as sole leader of WCC, pending further developments. More than 24 hours after Petkov announced his resignation, there had been no public statement from Vassilev.
Yes Bulgaria co-leader Ivailo Mirchev – whose party is part of WCC-DB – said on June 26 that DB would not split the coalition “for the delight of Borissov and Peevski”, referring to the GERB-UDF leader and Magnitsky Act-sanctioned leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Delyan Peevski.
“Kiril Petkov’s resignation is a reasonable and responsible action. Taking responsibility is a step towards restoring trust in the coalition,” Mirchev said.
Mirchev said that a coalition council of the WCC-DB was held on June 25, at which it was discussed that We Continue the Change should hold its own forum, at which a “clear and categorical response to the crisis would be given and the next steps that they will take would be announced”.
Borissov, speaking to reporters in the corridors of Parliament, said that Petkov’s resignation was a “personal act” and “I do not allow anyone to interfere in my party and I do not interfere in others”.
Responding to Petkov’s call to Borissov to follow suit by also resigning, Borissov said: “It is frivolous to comment on Kiril”.
According to Borissov, the discord in WCC was almost deserved.
“They wanted to rat us out, they arrested us, they beat people. As God says – whoever takes out the knife, dies by the knife”.
On June 26, Lyulin borough mayor Georgi Todorov, Mladost borough mayor Ivailo Kukurin and city councillors Dimitar Shalafov and Dragomir Dragomirov, who earlier quit WCC because of alleged undue pressure regarding the awarding of public contracts, said that the resignation of Petkov did not mean that the responsibility of the party’s executive council was exhausted.
Todorov said: “For many months, pressure was put on us – to prioritize private interests over public interests, to remain silent, not to follow the principles for which we were elected by the citizens and for which we joined the WCC. We refuse to be part of schemes. We are not part of the backstage”.
Shalafov, referring to the WCC leadership: “If they have enough courage, they should all resign. Leaving Petkov alone at this press conference was not good.”
On June 25, former Sofia deputy mayor Nikola Barbutov – who that day was dismissed from the post by Sofia mayor Vassil Terzhiev, of WCC – as well as a municipal official, and two employees from the Mladost borough administration were charged with being part of an organised crime group and accepting bribes.
Bulgarian National Television said on June 26 that a recording of a conversation between Barbutov and Todorov in which public procurement procedures were discussed had been made by the anti-corruption commission. The recording was leaked to several Bulgarian-language media on June 25.
(Photo of Vassilev and Petkov from WCC’s Facebook page, posted in 2021)
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