June 24 (Roumen Yanovski of BTA) - As Bulgaria moves from
 one run-up to elections to another, populism has emerged as the
 staple approach to the public. No decent analysis of Bulgaria's
 current state of affairs can do without mentioning "populism".

The local political context is dominated by great expectations
and scary scenarios. Various audiences share а desire for a
change (without а clear idea of what this change should be) and
are determined to vote; other groups - disappointed or
indifferent - are undecided and need to be galvanized. Within
such a framework, populism becomes endemic and politically
ubiquitous. It has proven to be contagious, is not limited to
campaign promises, and has affected policy-making (the ideas of
a new constitution and wider use of referendums being two
outstanding examples).

The Bulgarian political establishment has a long-standing
tradition in practicing populism. The so-called transitional
period, which began in 1990 with the fall of communism and the
transition to capitalism, offered an endless succession of
painful decisions affecting living standards and the social
security of citizens. However, promising unpleasant things goes
against the very principle of political campaigning and thus
resulted in strange combinations of slogans that now look
ridiculous. (One of the most memorable examples was the 1990
Bulgarian Socialist Party motto "Success for Bulgaria", during a
 deficit period, which is still remembered by many with empty
shelves in Bulgarian stores, as well as the food stamp-coupon
system). Since then, every sober socio-economic plan had to be
embedded in some populist advertising packaging, using phrases
that reduce negative possibilities and focus on positive effects
 only.

The short-lived 45th National Assembly offered spectacular
illustrations of populism. Suffice it to mention a May 5 debate
on a rise of pensions, where the voices of reason coming from
expert circles - or simply those prompted by common sense - were
 immediately drowned in waves of populist juxtaposition.

Populism is usually curbed by the responsibilities of a
government elected by Parliament. Powerholders of whatever
political affiliation are supposed to be less prone to it since
their promises are more easily checked against the rude reality
of life. The moment they step down, however, they catch the
populism bug as they join the race for the souls and hearts of
voters. This is exactly what happened to GERB in the 45th
National Assembly. Not only did they second a motion by There Is
 Such a People (TISP) for slashing party subsidies (from 8 to 1
lev per valid vote): they themselves moved a bill to replace the
 proportional representation system with a majoritarian system,
which was a pivotal idea in TISP's campaign.

As political rivals try to outdo each other in the populism
department, the political perspective gets so distorted that one
 could hardly distinguish between left, right, or liberal
ideology anymore. There is no stopping as they slide down the
populism slope: what if a party proposed a national referendum
on introducing a 1,000,000 leva minimum monthly wage?

Populism in Bulgaria has evolved from a disease to a pandemic.
It affects the general perception of political life by creating
an imaginary world of easy solutions (where drafting the
national budget is easy, collecting taxes is easy, organizing
elections is easy, democracy is easy).

This also affects political rhetoric. On the one hand,
politicians resort to grotesque forms of compassion and care for
 the poor and vulnerable (to quote Manol Genov MP: "I implore
you, let us vote through this bill, for the sake of Bulgarian
pensioners: let them have at least a sparkle of light in the
dark tunnel where you have left them"). On the other hand, it
encourages the use of jargon and slang as politicians endeavour
to reach wider strata. Words like "busters" started cropping up
in party leaders' and MPs' interviews for the national media.
Another ongoing fad is calling political opponents "thugs".

The only good news here is that as populism becomes prevalent,
so does the word itself, and as political opponents accuse each
other of populism, the word comes to denote something bad. In
Bulgarian, putting all academic interpretations aside,
"populism" is used to refer to demagoguery rather than to a
particular political concept. This is a good start: identifying
populism as a brand of political evil. RY//



/DT/