The Vice President: In the DNA of the Bulgarian, there is freedom and edification and our way forward cannot be permanently in repair
We will continue our fight for fair and accessible elections, for having a new type of governance, a synthesis of integrity and competence, for strengthening the rule of law and ending the abuse of power and theft, for investing in people's development and guaranteeing media freedom. It is the only way to crush poverty and lawlessness, and take a respectable place in the European family. This is what the Head of State said at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia in his address to the participants in the inaugural meeting of the steering committee to nominate President Rumen Radev and Vice President Iliana Iotova as candidates to run at the 14 November presidential elections.
The inaugural meeting of the nominating committee was attended by 188 public personalities and proven professionals from various fields - artists, academics, medical doctors, athletes, teachers, etc.
In Rumen Radev's words, over the past five years the presidential institution has established itself as a pillar of stability and statehood at a time of a collapse of trust in the political system and of a crisis of legitimacy. "In the worst times of a total siege, continuous attacks and manipulations, we did not deviate from our mission to defend the interests of the Bulgarians, to be a corrective and the last barrier against lawlessness and lobbyism," the President said.
The presidential institution symbolises the unity of the nation, but not as a dumb witness and guarantor of the comfort of the favoured, Rumen Radev stressed. "Unity is not a mechanical gathering of the robbers with the robbed, of the liars with the deceived. It is a conscious unity based on democratic values, around the civil will to seek and pursue fatefully significant social goals," he added.
The Head of State highlighted the shift in the public atmosphere over the past five years and welcomed the anti-mafia consensus created in the squares against arbitrariness, corruption and lawlessness. Our society is ripe for change, Rumen Radev stressed and expressed confidence that it is a matter of time for the effective democratic alternative to crystallise in the laws and their implementation. "In these dynamic processes, we have decided not to hide behind the institutional comfort. The path will not be quick and easy. The decade-long fusion of the ruling party with the state, the rampant corruption, the exercise of influence through fear and manipulation, the lies and demagoguery instilled over the years, and the poisoned media environment are stalling change. But through a common will we will reach a solution," the President stressed. The presidential institution's support for the squares of discontent last year is the fruit of the belief that fear corrodes the foundations of statehood. "Democratic values are associated above all with citizens' rights, with the cause of freedom. We will not let Bulgarians shrink in fear in the niches of survival," Rumen Radev said.
The Head of State defined the strengthening of the statehood as the most important immediate national goal and stated the presidential institution's unflinching intention to continue working for it. "Without its achievement, the next governing configurations and their economic, social and other policies will fall captive to the oligarchy and are doomed to failure," Rumen Radev concluded.
The Head of State expressed gratitude to all the parties, coalitions and citizens who expressed support for the presidential ticket's bid for a second term in office. "There is no normal person who would accept arbitrariness, corruption and lawlessness," the President stressed.
"There is freedom and edification in our DNA and national psychology, our way forward cannot be permanently in repair. We do not want only asphalt and timelessness. We want the freedom to choose, to assert our interests, and this requires will, consciousness and professionalism. Our goal is Bulgaria's edification." This is what Vice President Iliana Iotova said in her address to the members of the steering committee, whom she thanked for their support and trust.
In the words of the Vice President, change was born on the Bulgarian squares in 2020. "Bulgarians from near and far, our children, made it clear that they had the energy for change, that together we could do much more, that they wanted to participate in the state affairs," Iliana Iotova said.
"At a time of a statehood collapse and dissolved social relations, we are expected to bring hope back to the people and we believe that together we are awakening the sleeping conscience and together we will give a new coordinate system of national unity," Iliana Iotova pointed out and launched an appeal not to misuse the word 'unity' when thoughts are not about it.
For the Vice President, unity means respect for rights, as "we are not subjects, but citizens with rights and responsibilities." "Unity means solidarity and justice. Let us keep these words not only in our language but also in our actions," Iotova urged. "Solidarity makes us human and gets us through the crises. Justice cannot be privatised - for some to have, and for the majority, to have not," the Vice President said, pointing out that the conversation today is about the increasingly visible crisis of inequalities. "Our task is not to let there be doomed people, to help the poor and the weakest," Iliana Iotova said.
The Vice President thanked President Rumen Radev for the good teamwork for the sake of Bulgaria's well-being.