What politician Bulgaria needs

Bulgaria needs no Messiah, but a well-cultivated culture. He or she also needs to have this one very powerful ally - the God of the Rule of Law. Only in this combination, a positive outcome is possible, otherwise the political Hercules will end up like his predecessors – oversized by stolen money and banquettes. Are we looking for a mythical creature or is it possible to cultivate it by not just observing, but also applying the obvious? 

The matter of what this new politician for Bulgaria should be like have been keeping my mind busy because I was trying to answer one, I believe very hard question – why, after 25 years of democracy, Bulgaria ends up in one and the same vicious circle where even completely new figures on the political scene, after a while, start behaving as well-known political veterans.
It is remarkably repetitive – for the last quarter of a century, the country has seen completely new political actors (just after 1989, the new democrats, never known before), completely redesigned older parties (most of the Socialist party members), a bunch of literarily imported politicians (the so-called party of the Bulgarian Tsar, Simeon II), the radically new formation of nationalistic parties. We also had the nearly idolatry party around the former Sofia Mayor. Yet, nothing changed. All these groups were different in preparation, formation, origin, ideas, but have produced the same results.

The new after -1989 democrats were, in the majority of the cases, born and raised under communism, and were its very vocal and very impractical opposition. The redesigned party of the communists, now socialists, did not have much to offer in terms of novelty – most of the party’s members are sons, daughters and close affiliates of the older elite. When they came to power, the members of the Tsar’s party were seen as personifications of Noah, who will build the ark of the nation towards salvation. They were educated and have worked abroad, they knew the free world. And they knew how to apply also the bad sides of it. As for the nationalists, I believe Bulgarians didn’t expect much from them, other then bringing back the pride of once great nation into the spotlight – surprisingly for the nation (not surprisingly for the human history), this turned out into a form of policy, way beyond its value, bordering dangerous, xenophobic ideas. Bulgaria also tried with the powerful, fatherly figure, the tough former fireman, now leader, particularly dear to the admirers of the people's type of politician. But when things are too much into someone, they eventually get completely out of anyone's control. 

With all these facts on hand, there are few obvious answers to my enigma of how come Bulgaria always ends up with stealing, cheating, lazy politicians, who benefit only themselves and their families, and never make use of the state’s resources and advantages. Reason number one and only - very quickly they all felt the sweetness of the lion’s pie and organized surprisingly quickly to share it in between, keeping all other, smaller, more honest actors away. Combine this with the extremely flexible, stretchy application of the rule of law or its complete absence (whenever needed), and you get the whole picture - for the last 25 years Bulgaria was damned to have politicians on leading roles, who all exercised the maxima “Give a man power and watch the peep show”. Regardless of education or social status.

In a parallel universe, I imagine how these people and their low, but not uncommon passions and desires, are all gone, once and for all. Then I am asking myself, after this fantasy political apocalypse, what kind of politician Bulgaria needs, who will be this one leader (or group?), who will not give up for small and short, but will build towards development, will invest now, for the generations in twenty years. How much different he or she needs to be from the current ones? The answer to the latter is - a lot! 

Before discussing anything further, an important point of attention - the Bulgarian people have a distinctive specific, also typical for the majority of the Slavic and Balkan nations (maybe conditioned by Ottoman yoke, communism) – the need of a leader, who will save the day. It is often very literal – one leader, the leader. On this peninsula, and when it comes to politics and social development, we lack the well-known German common responsibility to act as a population in its totality. We do have it, but it mostly strikes out in times of natural disasters, in helping each other at the face of death. Given this factor, we are searching for nearly a hero. But in order to be successful, and not just a daily celebrity, he or she, like the Greek Hercules, also needs to have powerful, extremely valuable and irreplaceable allies – in the Bulgarian case, this would be the God of the Rule of Law. The God cannot simply be called by a designated ritual (Athena wasn’t on call either!), he needs to first be…well, reinvented, repositioned as a god, because now he is only like a tourist souvenir from another world on someone’s desk. It has happened before that one person manages to reintroduce the god whom everyone forgot or disregarded. On the political scene, the hero we are looking for, if he is talented enough, will actually have this dual role – to work proactively towards the betterment of the nation, and simultaneously make people understand the absolute importance of the god of the rule of law. Only in this combination, a positive outcome is possible, otherwise the political Hercules will end up like his predecessors – oversized by stolen money and banquettes. 

As follow-up points, he or she has to have several superpowers, unknown to and undefeatable by opponents. Along with the moral ones, such as more honesty, he has to have few purely practical ones, on which I now plan to focus. If to someone the following seems a little too obvious list, I would like to ask them to honestly try and imagine even one Bulgarian or foreign politician, who follows at least one of these, I think, sheer rules. If you can, then let me state the obvious for those who can't. 

To be different then the others, the new Bulgarian politician needs contemporary history and no sentiments. He or she has to be very well aware of the positive and negative sides of all government forms before (kingdom, communism, transitional period, democracy), in order to be able to draw conclusions and evaluate with a clear mind, without an attachment to either, the Bulgarian political history of the 20^th and 21^st centuries must be known in details.. This will give him/her a bigger perspective, a constant reminder who was good and who was bad judging by the outcome of their actions. The lack of sentiment to either of the past or present government forms, however, does not automatically imply inventing a new one – the new politician must choose for one, guaranteeing economic development, independence (as healthily as possible), human and civil rights, simply speaking one which is most universal in the free world.

Going further, the new Bulgarian politician needs to know, speak to and not underestimate the neighbors and the partners - to have a very good overview on the politics and history of the countries around, the continent and the political allies (NATO, EU). He or she must also be able to speak their language (both metaphorically and literally) - to read straight and between the lines of negotiations, directives, requirements, and, preferably to not need interpreters for at least two of the big European languages.

The politician Bulgaria needs has to stand tall as well – only we, Bulgarians, refer to our country as “small”. In fact, Bulgaria is a middle-sized European state, territorially four times bigger then the Netherlands with as many historical sights as the Greeks (if we want to). Positioned very interestingly, our alliance is actually needed –it is our fault we don’t stand strong to make the partnership quid pro quo. As for population, we do rank low, but the population of other states grew rapidly also due to acceptance policy, for which we also have all the conditions, as long as our country is somehow attractive.

A Bulgarian politician of a rapidly new type should be able to make the country comfortable and attractive for its own people, like others did. Their approach is not trade mark know-how, instead is a well-developed manual, ready for application (from a German or Belgian example). This requests him or her to have a strong economic background, but above all, a clear perspective on three main factors – human capital at disposal, attraction of foreign investments and local investment in education.

In order to understand education as a value, the new politician has to have one. An education, very different from the ones nowadays Bulgarian politicians have (when they do). Ideally, it will be a result of hard work, not relations, multilateral, structured around extraction of rich international experience as much as possible.  He or she will have to be excellently familiar with our local education system, but also with good foreign examples. I don’t think I proclaim xenomania since most of the great minds of Bulgaria just after the Ottoman yoke and right before the communism came, were in fact schooled abroad as well, to broaden perspectives, not to sweep foreign interests.

I would also not leave intact other two aspects of the figure of the politician Bulgaria needs if even they refer more to physical appearance. In a country, which drools for The Leader, I believe this is important. Certainly, the new Bulgarian politician needs to have a healthy look, vastly different form the looks of the current ones, on whose faces we read hangover or despise to sports. A leader is after all a role model – take Obama for instance, his jogging habits are nationwide admired. Or Putin, if you’re a fan – he likes to show muscles on topless pictures, right? Neither of them, however, carry away with too tough look of a too sporty guy, ours shouldn’t either, but instead should balance with a wardrobe, which speaks for their position. It’s not that hard – there are armies of advisers on ties, suits, shoes, what’s suitable for which occasion (tip – signal coloured t-shirt on a Sunday, is never a good choice, although it is weekend, you don’t have weekends if you’re public figure!).

And the talking, very much the talking – a Bulgarian politician of a new type, who’s dedicated to (finally) develop this country must simply leave at home instructive talks (especially to media), and must simply never try to slip in street talk or slangs, deluding himself this makes him look closer to the people. There are trillions of ways to express yourself understandably to any sort of audience and still sound eloquent. Another point of attention – it is never a good idea to carry away in an argument with an opponent. Why? Because the opponent seeks for it and for this one little moment in which you will loose your nerves and a second later, the public trust. Solidity is a main matter for politicians, who want to be leaders, only positive emotions are well accepted. Facts.

The new Bulgarian politician needs to seek contact and interaction. With people from his own nation, other politicians, other leaders, other countries and organizations. Always and as a top priority, not to sit in the corner as a shy girl on her first dancing evening, hoping to be invited. If he wants to stay where he is, he has to be noticed, if he wants to be taken seriously, he/she should not compromise. Presumably, this almost fantasy creature will have to deal with the unpleasant heritage of his predecessors, will have to rebuild an image of a whole country, therefore any interaction is needed. The size (of the state) doesn’t matter, only the proactiveness, or going further, what one believes for oneself. I dare to say this is a founding law in public image. Everything Needs To Be Noticed! And mind your language – no slag or street talk. A leader needs to have his/her own shape, the others will follow. It has happened before, it will happen again,

In a nutshell, the politican Bulgaria needs is non-existent... yet. What I descried above may indeed sound like a fairy tale character, but as late Whitney Houston sang, there can be miracles when you believe. Bulgaria needs no Messiah, but a cultivated culture – someone going up one step at a time, fully aware of every stage.  After all, it is a Bulgarian proverb which says that the vineyard needs no pray, but a working hoe.