Do not start playing prior to the elections

No matter how scary it sounds, only a few hours are left until the start of the war on terrorism. The strikes against the Taliban and the comrades of Osama bin Laden will coincide with the presidential elections in Bulgaria.

And since the opinions of Bulgarian politicians are well known, regardless of party affiliation, they should be warned not to use the war for their own cheap propaganda.

Experience shows that glory seekers do not stop for anything. Before the parliamentary elections, everybody swore they would not use Macedonia for their propaganda purposes, but they did just that.

Now the situation is extremely serious, and any unintelligent or unmeasured playing with the topic of the day may lead to serious trouble.

24 Chassa

Crime and explanation

The Plovdiv prosecutor from the Court of Appeals, Rossen Dimov, broke the law on deals involving currency valuables and currency control which were in force until 1999. He was accused by the Greek media of holding a bank account which, by his own confession, contained about $20,000 of his own savings. As is traditionally the case, the Supreme Cassations Prosecution stated that they do not listen to slander, and the Supreme Court Council refused to have dealings with their colleague. Despite the fact that in a series of interviews Dimov admits that he broke the law, not without irony he asked, "Is this my crime?" Well, yes - this is a crime according to the law.

The former candidate to be chief prosecutor melodramatically explained how in 1996-1997 the banking system collapsed, and he had searched for a safe place for his money. The only problem is that, according to the law back then, this was a violation. And according to the Penal law for undeclared deals with currency valuables, a fine is inflicted which is twice the sum involved in the crime and a prison sentence of up to six years is handed out. This is a serious crime, and that is why the immunity of the prosecutor Dimov should be taken away and he be prosecuted.

The justification by the magistrate, who talks about a world conspiracy against him, is, to put it mildly, untenable. Five years ago, thousands of not so arrogant citizens abided by the law and kissed goodbye to the money in their bank accounts. Absolutely naive people - honest, but poor.

The prosecutor himself admits that he broke the laws of the land, and, as a magistrate, instead of searching for a conspiracy against him, he should voluntarily give up his immunity and ask to be investigated. This would be morally and legally desirable.

Kapital

The Bulgarian president

For Hamlet the question was one - to be or not to be. Today Bulgarians are confronted by three - whether they will be able to pay their electricity and central heating bills; what will happen to them if (or when) the U.S. empire strikes back; and who will be the new Bulgarian president. One question sneaks in with the last one, "does it matter?"

Yes, it does. For the success of the Bulgarian state it is hardly without meaning whether it will have national self-esteem.

Each of the known possible presidential candidates has their merits - professor Boyan Biolchev, Plamen Panayotov and the journalist Dimitar Tsonev. However, the only one of the candidates who has a proved presence in politics is Bogomil Bonev (former minister of interior affairs). The other choice is not entirely unlikely - the new president could be the old president.

The tsar, who is currently prime minister, has a monopoly on the people's trust, and he cannot possibly be unaware of this. And it is a matter of honour for him - either to suggest a worthy adversary, or the current President Petar Stoyanov will remain in place for another five years.

Trud

Television needs to give more to politics

This time, the presidential campaign is distinguishing itself with a remarkable amount of variety and innovation. Apart from the usual presidential candidates - Kire the Liberal, Yolo Denev and Father Gelemenov, who are known to the general public, new faces have come onto the stage. It seems that the reservoir of TV anchors was not depleted during the parliamentary elections.

On September 30, the mainstay of the central news broadcast of the State Television Po Sveta i u Nas (In Bulgaria and Abroad) confirmed that he was one of the nominees of the National Movement Simeon II. The calm and serene tone with which Tsonev is able to announce to us even the scariest cataclysm shows that the tsar made a good choice.

If they want to be up to date, the other political forces will also have to turn to the arsenal of TV faces. Still no one has nominated Drago Draganov from Chai (Tea) or Koko Kamenarov - former news presenter and former spokesman to the prime minister. The first would score with tolerant and inquisitive young men. The second with freshman student girls. It is time the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and the Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union made their choices.

If it is going to be television oriented show business all the way, at least use human resources from the television.

Monitor