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Archived Articles
Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Turning Bulgaria Upside Down
When Julius Caesar conquered Gales (Gaul) 2000 years ago, in his war diaries he wrote 3 words "Veni, vidi, vici", i.e. "I came, I saw and I won". When one day ex-Bulgarian king Simeon II decides to publish his own diaries maybe we'll see included the three magic sentences he used to convince the public to vote for his party. Before telling you which these sentences are let's make a brief excursion in the history of Bulgaria. Until 1944 my country was parliament monarchy where the head of state wasn't a simple decoration but rather played an active role in every kind of political intrigues. Then came the communists. Inspired by their model country - former USSR, they organized an imitation of referendum in 1946 where the population voted against the monarchy (it isn't important how you vote, it's important who is counting the votes). The communists continued to govern till 1989 when the dictator Todor Zhivkov stepped down and the multiparty democracy was restored but this time in a form of parliament republic. In the last 12 years the governments were either Communists or anti-Communists with some brief periods of big coalitions. Only two (2) months ago the former king Simeon II (he was 9 when he was forced to leave the country in 1946, now he is 64) returned definitely in Bulgaria and called for support in the coming parliament elections. After a brief campaign he won the elections, obtaining the half of all places (in Bulgaria people actually vote not for persons in a single-constituency regions, but for parties on a national level) in the parliament. Simeon II for the first time in our recent democratic history can make a government without any help either from the Communists or by the anti-Communists. Which were the magic sentences he used to convince Bulgarians to vote for his candidates for members of parliament? The first was: "It's not the right time to ask me that question?" (he usually used it while answering the question will he try to restore the monarchy). The second magic word was: "You'll see!" (he used it usually when asked what he is going to do if he wins the elections). The third was: "Trust me!" (the final argument against any critics). You may say that only a person losing a mind could vote for such "detailed" political program. In fact almost half of all Bulgarians did exactly that. Poor people did it because Simeon II (not he but his people) promised to them more money, rich people did it, because he promised to them less taxes. Young families did it because he promised to give everyone $2 000 credits (big money for Bulgaria). Businessmen supported him because he promised to deregulate the economy and so on. How he can successfully proceed such opposite politics? The answer was "You'll see. Trust me!" It's obvious that the trust in Bulgaria is in very big quantities given the election results. But what in reality we can expect from the new ruling party? Maybe at the beginning they will try to give something to everyone as promised. But they will soon realize that this isn't a task that can be accomplished even in a very rich country (Bulgaria is among the poorest countries in Europe). Then, in one year at the latest, will come the day of the truth and the government (if still in power) will opt for the only possible economic policy, i.e. strict monetary policy without many social benefits. If I was an investor I would stay away from Bulgaria at least for some time. You never know what will happen if the party of Simeon II collapses and who will succeed it. This may be the former anti-Communists, but may be the Communists too. If I was the investor who wants to make deals in economies in transition I'll put my money in Central Europe. --------------------
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