Parvanov shy of the prime minister's post

Despite Georgi Parvanov's election as a leader of the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), it appears he will stay shy of the post of Bulgarian prime minister. According to an interview published in the December 27 issue of the daily 24 Hours, Mr. Parvanov thinks there are still at least three potential candidates for the post carrying the executive power in Bulgaria. He does not envisage himself as one of these candidates.

Apparently, one of the candidates is the present interior minister Nikolay Dobrev who recently criticized the prime minister Videnov and the whole cabinet (he himself belongs to) among other things for the failure to attack the economic problems and the wide spread corruption. It appears, another candidate is the foreign minister Pirinski who resigned recently and who lost (along with Yanaki Stoilov) the elections for the party post to Parvanov at the recent BSP congress. It appears, overall, Georgi Parvanov is a compromise figure for the opposing factions in BSP.

In his interview, Parvanov also mentions that he would support the adoption of a crowned lion as an coat-of-arms of Bulgaria, a departure from the official position of BSP so far.