Political Vision for Bulgaria

WELL-RUN STATE OF WELL-OFF PEOPLE

Sofia, 2008

We believe in the might of the truth!

We know that in order to be richer we have to work more. We know that the State needs a profound reform and a basic change in the style and competency of government. Our government culture is built upon clear moral norms and fixed principles: the citizens should know the truth about the world they live in, the expenditure of public funds must be totally transparent, the citizens have the right of full control and the last word by all means of the democracy.

We believe in action!

In a world of continuous changes the future has to be built not on good intentions, but by adequate actions. The old recipes are already obsolete. The priority today have the results.

We believe in Democracy!

We are convinced that the perfection of the democratic system is achievable. It depends on the will of the politicians and on the common sense that our personal destiny is in our own hands. If the citizens deny their own rights, no state and no institution would guaranty them.

The government of the state is performed by means of interconnected policies which have three support strategies:

Long-term economic growth

Labor alone creates wealth. The stable development is the source of the economic growth, which do not contradict to people’s needs for a clean environment and harmony with nature. Priorities and well-aimed politics are necessary, which to create the backbone of our future economy, adequate to the processes of globalization, to people’s traditions and the realities in our state. For us the perspectives of the Bulgarian economy are the entrepreneurship, the ecological agriculture and in the high technologies, which need to be supported through education, culture taxation system and regional policy.

Social solidarity

We believe in the solidarity with the weaker . We are different in the physical and intellectual aspect. We were born in families with different social and economic status. As differing from the laws of nature, the human society is built upon the support of the healthy to the sick, of the strong to the weak, of the young to the old. Every one of us could run into a tough situation, but the bad moment should not turn to a long switching off. Solidarity ensures the entireness of the social system and builds the foundation of all governing mechanisms of the state and of the social development.

Recognition of the national identity

Our state is rich with its history, but not with the successes of the Bulgarians nowadays. They survived the plundering of the state, the blackmailing, the pyramids, the inflation and the bankrupts of the banks. The contemporary Bulgarians continue to believe that the education for their children is a priority, and take care for the future of the nation at the price of a great effort. The State should ensure all conditions to support the Bulgarian families, to promote the physical, intellectual and spiritual health of then nation as well as its self-confidence.

І. New challenges to the Bulgarian economy: to think in the long-term, to react quickly

Our long-term goal is to ensure stable economic growth, based on enterprising, ecologically consistent behavior and development of the high technologies.

Economic effectiveness. The welfare appears there where the economy is effective, where with limited resources are achieved high results. For this reason the Bulgarian economy should encourage branches and the production of ware and services with high value added.
Policy for increasing of the energetic effectiveness. Through energetic effectiveness a considerable economic results can be achieved. The policies applied need to direct the public financial resources towards the improvement of the energetic effectiveness, including tax amelioration during the implementation of energy saving technologies in the industry and in the households.
Technological modernization. Bulgaria has the necessary potential for a quick and intensive action regarding the development of the high technologies. The access to the European technological parks is a real opportunity for imposing of the innovation in the Bulgarian enterprises.
Financial decentralization. Currently, the financial flows in this country are strongly centralized in the framework of the state budget. The latter distorts the economic development of Bulgaria. A real financial decentralization would achieve the even regional development and would solve a number of social and infrastructure problems. In regions with their development lagging behind the state needs to render the necessary financial solidarity with the communities.
Reform in the health and social insurance security system. The system for health and social insurance needs to be constructed according to the principles of the competition, including the introduction of multiple health insurance cash-desks.
Transparency. The lack of transparency in the legislative, judicial and executive authorities is a prerequisite for corruption, for violation of the public interests and for deterioration of the economic indicators. The activity of the three authorities needs to be fully transparent, and should be ensured by law.
Balanced budget policy. The state is called upon to create and to respect the rules in the economy. The latter envisages the lack of budget deficits or of considerable budged surplus, the reduction of the total redistributed through the state budget percentage of the state gross product, reduction of the indirect taxation and the introduction of the programmed budgeting.

The state investment – basic economic tool

Main priority of the investment policy of the state is the improvement of people’s welfare through creating of employment, growth of the industrial branches and encouraging of the competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy.

Building of new roads, broadening and repair of the existing.
The state needs to design a clear and long-term concept regarding where to attract the private sector as a partner and where to invest budget and European capital. Clearly defined regional priorities should be identified.
Improvement of the railway infrastructure. Of a high priority are the investments which to contribute to the increase of the average speed of movement along the Bulgarian railway.
Development of the ports alongside the river Danube. Important role will play the complex building of an infrastructure – peers, logistic bases with appropriate infrastructure. Specialization of the ports is necessary.
State support for the agriculture. This means to support cultures with great value added, to invest in melioration systems and to ensure access to the water sources.
Major accent of the state investments in the energy household are the energy effectiveness, the renewable and alternative sources.
The state needs to make sufficient investments in the education and the science: introduction of information and communication technologies, high-speed internet, modern working stations and creating of conditions for interactive education with regard to the European strategy for equal access to education.
Investment in the area of the environmental protection.
Investment in the water supply and sewerage systems infrastructure. The services I this area are public and need to be accessible for everyone. For this reason a considerable attention needs to be paid to the social aspect.

Ecological agriculture – competitive advantage for the Bulgarian economy.

Our proposals focus on the conditions for the development of a modern, efficient and competitive agricultural business

Necessary is:

Enlargement of the agricultural areas
Efficient information support in order to ensure transparency and equal opportunities for the farmer for access to the European funds and to the state budget
Encouraging investments in new agricultural technique
Investments in the research and development sector
Encouraging and support to the young technologists and agricultural specialists to resume work in a chosen area
Encouraging of the bio-agriculture
Provision of working mechanisms for hiring of season workers, including foreign citizens
Stimulation of the volunteer unions and co-operations among agricultural producers on the principle of solidarity and common interests
The Bulgarian village should acquire modern infrastructure, access to health services and education, as well as to modern communications

Nature protection is compatible with industrialization and growth

Ecology turned to be a major issue for the planet, whose resources are expiring. The quality of life breaks down because of the pollution and the noise, the uncontrolled urbanization and the new diseases. The protection of the Bulgarian nature and its renewal are a central priority for the society.

The ecology is a global issue and none of a sector policies could respond alone to this challenge..
Through ecological policy to everyone should be guaranteed the right to live in a balanced and harmless for his health environment. The ecology has to become the third dimension of our activities, together with the economy thinking and the social justice.
The Bulgarian citizens have the right to be informed about the truth regarding the environment they live in. Necessary is a committee at national level, composed of the best specialists in this country, which to warn the citizens and to give direction.
The Bulgarian nature, the national parks and the preserved areas heed to be protected against the aggressive attempts, building, pollution and demolition.
The state in coordination with the non-governmental sector should work out specific mechanisms and projects for the recovery of the disturbed balance of nature alongside the Black Sea, the mountains and everywhere where the wild flora and fauna are under threat.

IІ. For solidarity and a fair society

The fundamental policy of our Party is directed towards realization of the dream for success, towards striving for justice and the need for solidarity of everyone

The governing of the state should have as its main goal the people to be happy. To this end it is necessary to satisfy the need for a better standard of living, for justice, success and recognition. Such right is inherent to everyone, no matter what gender, age, origin or physical condition.

The good social policy guarantees full and unconditional protection of children, the disabled and the old. It stimulates the rest to labor in the framework of their skills and ambitions.

The principle of justice is a basic one regarding the effective social policy.

For all Bulgarian citizens we demand more support, more protection, more solidarity and equal opportunities. By all means for influence upon the family and the state we have to strengthen virtues as labor, recognition, respect, dignity and happiness with the welfare of the community.
The well-of society can produce policies for fighting the poverty, to invest in healthcare, in the network for social services, without these to harm the standard of those who give more.
The solidarity is achieved under the active intermediation of the syndicates, the branch and the non-governmental organizations through a continuous and intensive social dialogue. Trough this dialogue the burdens of the social and economic reforms, as well as the common goods need to be shared in a fair way.
The justice requires those, who make use of the labor of others to be isolated from the opportunity to live on the account of those, who work, invest effort and respect the principles of the society. Each case of corruption and unfaithful professional behavior or lack of competency on the part of the jurisdiction bodies and the police we assess as a coarse act against the interests of the society and as violation of the right for justice of the individual.

For effective and modern institutions of the social policy

The core of our social policy is to support those who work, to allow those who want to work more to earn more for themselves and for the society. The system for organizing of the working hours has to be extremely flexible, thus offering more freedom to the employers and to the workers to contract extra hours and a specific working schedule.
There should be a constant high difference between the pay for work and the pay for unemployment.
The state has to build a network of social services, which, figuratively speaking, we call “Do not leave anybody on the road”, which network would ensure a decent life for the children with problems and to the “nobody’s children”, for the homeless and for the people with mental problems, for the old people and for those who experience hard times in their life.
A principally new approach is necessary regarding children’s rights. The state has to guarantee the right of childhood and a family, the protection against violence, the right of education and priority healthcare for the new generation. The interests of children need to be protected by institutions with clear responsibilities and rights and a sufficient budget through quick and efficient procedures.
We support a defined system for involvement in charity activities and for rendering a volunteer help. It should include opportunities and conditions for participation through personal labor in hospitals and hospices, taxation preferences for donations in the sphere of the social support, support and financial participation in the state and private initiatives for building hospices, daily centers and orphanages. The strong through their capabilities, talent and energy should help the weak.
Necessary is a reform of the pension system with a new logic and formula, which to allow the refreshment of the pensions. Everyone should be given the opportunity when to go to pension, including the public sector. Mechanisms should be set up which to ensure a choice for financing the different regimes for a pension. These mechanisms define different additions and deductions in the case of early doing to pension.

ІІI. For consolidation and development of the Bulgarian national identity

The policies of the United People’s Party with regard to education, science and culture and the health care are synchronized by a system of activities in the state and in the society, building patriotism and national self-confidence. Basis of the identity of our nation, composed of a variety of ethnical groups, traditions and local cultures, is the common will to be a prosperous state. It is our pride.

Accessible and quality education throughout our life

The modern school is culture, institutions and standards which build the future of the nation.

The school as culture is respect to the dignity, recognition of the effort and realization of the talent.

We have to create such rules, that the family, the school and the society as a whole to be the sites for education using the personal example, formal requirements and moral standards. This assumes the Bulgarian school to be approved as a model, which induces respect by the society and guarantees a high degree of socialization.
Each Bulgarian school needs to create its own attributes of its internal culture, which to attract and induce discipline in the young man.
We support the unified requirements towards the order in the educational facilities, respect to the teachers, sharp sanctions for violation of the discipline and for exercising violence.
The school has to promote strife for knowledge and interest in the world, to encourage and develop the individual talent of each child through continuous improvement and modernizing of the training methods. This process is defined and is controlled by the state. It cannot be left merely to the responsibility of the teacher.
The free time of the students is school’s territory. It should create an attitude for collaboration and participation in public activities and initiatives as a civil service.

The school as institution is means for the realization of the public interests

Education should be accessible for all people throughout their life. A regional policy is necessary for setting up a network of educational institutions, which to respond to common criteria, access, equal living and professional conditions and adequacy with regard to the labor market.
We encourage the competition between all state and private schools as a guarantee for high quality

The school as standard creates a set of competencies which are necessary for a successful social and professional realization.

The design of a unified and independent national system for evaluation of the children is necessary. The completion of each degree should be certified by a document, which gives definite rights for continuation of the education.
The matures need to be obligatory only for those who continue their education in the next degree. The mature degree should be possible to be covered at every age and by everyone, who possesses the obligatory lower degree.
As priority we define the profiling and the professional training.
The autonomy of the education institutions allows them to develop their specific pedagogical project and guarantees the right of the family to select the school for their children.
We encourage the achievement of international standards in the education in entrepreneurship, foreign languages, information technologies at all educational levels.
The school has to be a laboratory for creativity, definition of new ideas and view of life. It has to bring up responsibility, self-discipline and respect to the different opinions.

Science and higher education are the face of the Bulgarian nation

The growth of the economy, based on knowledge depends directly on the achievements of science and on the quality of the higher education. The investments in the human factor are effective only if the best trained, the most competent and the most motivated realize their ambitions in the national economy.

We support the academic autonomy as a factor in the competition and as a way to preserve the identity of the Bulgarian higher education.
Well defined regulations are necessary for financing of the scientific research at the higher education institutions and for the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, which to be at the level of the European standards.
It is necessary to provide employment for the students in the universities, in the libraries, in the security sector, in the servicing of hostels. The students labor should be exempt from taxes and expenditures for social insurance.
The link between science and practice, which is built up through common projects is a source for increasing the income of the university professors and the scientific personnel.
Every Bulgarian citizen needs to have access to centers for assessment and professional orientation, which to support the individual planning of the career.
The attracting and the holding of well trained and motivated personnel in the system of science and education is in a strong competition with the business. For the supply of the system with personnel, urgent radical decentralization and simplification of the procedures for awarding scientific degrees is necessary in order to reduce the burden of the formal quantitative criteria as opposed to the qualitative ones, and the placing of the research and teaching labor in a competitive environment with an adequate pay will e a positive step to improvement of the situation.

Our national culture is a basic factor of the identity and the integration

The Bulgarian state has to be the greatest consumer of art and culture and the greatest investor in this area. In this way a favorable environment for the Bulgarian creator will be at hand. All prerequisites for identifying, broadening , preservation and realization of our culture-historical achievements to the good of our national self-confidence and economy will be created.

Necessary is a staffed increase of the budget for culture until it reaches the European standards, which to be used not for expansion of the administration, but for the purchasing of objects of art, as well as for the activities of the cultural institutions.
The public-private partnership has to be defined and to be developed as the most perspective form for investments and for financing of the cultural activities.
The patronizing and the sponsoring need to impose themselves as prestigious and useful forms for financing, which to be apprehended at the same time as a part of our economic culture.
The cultural institution and the community centers respectively need to strengthen their positions as places for the building of talents and as a way to ensure a broader access to the education in art.
The Bulgarian citizens need to have a unlimited access to art and to the culture-historical heritage through the organization of Days of the Open Doors for all public museums and exhibitions as well as more time for the Bulgarian culture in the prime-time of the public media, the specialized pages of the internet which will be financed through public funds.
The state should conduct an aimed and efficient policy for making the achievements of the Bulgarian culture abroad more popular as constituent part of the advertising strategy of this country. The Bulgarian embassies , the cultural institutions and schools abroad should stick to approved requirements in this aspect.
Key priority is the revealing and the preservation of the culture-historical heritage. The development of a modern infrastructure and the transformation of the archeological and the architectural findings to attractive tourist centers. Through regulations regarding the entrepreneurship and the private institutions in this area, the citizens will gain access to an exceptional cultural heritage, and the state – control over treasure-hunting and vandalism

The healthcare system – a guarantee for the reproduction of the nation

The healthcare is not merely a necessity or obligation. The healthcare system has to be a trustworthy and resourceful tool for the reproduction of the nation. This is the state approach, which will exempt the Bulgarian healthcare from political passions, personal fights and endless excuses. Following a series of unsuccessful administrative interferences the healthcare is still not gone through the real reform.

With consensus there has to be set up a national doctrine for the development of the healthcare system. The man should be placed in its center with his individual rights to use it according to his financial contribution when needed, to choose a doctor, healthcare facility, the size of his contribution and the fund that is servicing him, to receive a quality service and to be protected against incompetent or careless service.
It is necessary to increase the share for healthcare from the national gross product, whereby the funds for the preventive care should be doubled. The prevention should not only be a banner, but a set of real projects.
We will work on structural changes, which are aimed mainly at the improvement of the quality of the hospital service.
A new system for accreditation of the healthcare facilities is necessary, which to impose quality requirements to the hardware basis and to the qualification of the personnel.
The opportunity to chose a health insurance cash-desk and/or fund should be broadened
Of a great importance is the building of a new system for qualification and requalification of the personnel. This would allow for the setting up of career rules for the different professions in the healthcare depending on the length of work, the experience and the realized forms of further qualification education and training.
It is important to apply a system for current assessment of the quality of the services offered and to organize information regarding the rating of the healthcare facilities, which information to be accessible for all patients.

ІV. For well-run state and efficient institutions

In democracy it is not normal the secrets to be a part of the administration whereby the truth to be a prerogative of the selected who manage it. Transparency of information should be a rule. This will be a new culture for the administration. This is a new ethic for the political class as well.

The justice – equal for all, accessible and effective

The notion for a democratic state is closely connected wit the definition of law and order for the exact and equal execution of laws and quick recovery of justice. When jurisdiction is not in a position to give justice, people act along other ways in order to fix their relations and stop believing in their state.

The founding of an effective and working jurisdiction system is an activity for strengthening the statesmanship, respectively of this legal framework the people are in need of.

A basic principle in a democratic state is the judicial power to be exercised only by the court. For this reason a constitutional change is needed, which to define the courts as the only authority, which in the organizational and the functional aspect exercise the judicial power.

The working judicial authority is called upon to solve effectively an in clear terms disputes between citizens, and at the same time to be an independent judge between the authority and the citizen. For this reason it is necessary

Achievement of full compatibility and correspondence of the Bulgarian jurisdiction with the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which requires a total revision and change of the jurisdiction.
Legal and procedural guaranties for exercising the individual rights and freedoms
Definite improvement of the communication and the transparency between the judicial authorities and the society. The activity regarding the information of the citizens at all levels of the judicial power needs to be regulated.

The institutions – guarantee for the implementation of the policy

The big problem of Bulgaria of today are not the laws and the intentions but the institutions which apply them. We support a profound change of the philosophy, the principle of creating and the control over the work of the institutions.

We support the reduction of the number of deputies to an adequate for the size of this country standard.
Necessary is the enlargement of the ministries and in this way to ensure the mutual bond between the policies and optimization of the resources.
The introducing of direct election of the regional governor is a step towards the broadening of the local self-control.
All experts who work at the institutions and are engaged with the priority functions of the state should acquire a status of civil servants and to be treated as such regarding the stimulation and control.
A well aimed work is necessary in order to overcome the stereotypes of the past. The state institutions and the serving in them personnel may not blackmail, to exercise pressure upon the citizens.
Our embassies abroad have to begin working as defender of the rights of our citizens, and not the servicemen in them to behave as “chosen by God”. The Bulgarian embassy is a national territory for every Bulgarian citizen.

We believe in one Bulgaria, which contributes to freedom peace and security in the world through equal opportunities, steady development, democracy and respect to human rights.

We believe in Bulgaria which is respected in the world. Work in consolidated Europe stays in front of us, as well as the challenges of new markets and our role in the epoch of globalization.

People begin to recover the taste of the collective life

Let us be united and achieve our common dream for Bulgaria