Bulgaria’s 2016 Presidential Election and Referendum Go to Runoff Ballot

Some 6.8 million Bulgarians are eligible to choose their new president who will replace incumbent Rosen Plevneliev after his five-year term ends in January. The election campaign focused mainly on the future of the European Union, relations with Russia and the threats from a possible rise in migrant inflows from neighboring Turkey

For the first time, voting in the presidential elections will be compulsory.

A tight race as expected between the two frontrunners, Parliament Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva, nominated by main ruling party GERB, and former Air Force Commander Maj Gen Rumen Radev, endorsed by the main opposition force, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Tsacheva, pointed by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in October, is expected to win the first round by a narrow margin.

• Gallup International has projected a 26.7% support for Radev, while the candidate of the main ruling GERB party, Tsetska Tsacheva, has ranked second, having mastered 22.5%
• Alpha Research, another pollster offering exit poll results, suggests Radev has garnered 24.8%, with Tsacheva’s support at 23.5%.
• According to Alpha Research, third, lagging far behind, is nationalist candidate Krasimir Karakachanov, at 13.6%.
• Fourth, surprisingly, comes businessman Veselin Mareshki (9.3%) who runs as an independent candidate, followed by Reformist Bloc’s Traycho Traykov at 7.1%.

Government Elections in Bulgaria (2005-2015)

2005 Parliamentary Elections
2006 Presidential Elections
2007 Municipal Elections
2009 Parliamentary Elections
2009 European Parliament elections
2011 Presidential Elections
2011 Local Elections
2013 Early parliamentary elections
2014 Early Parliamentary Elections
2015 Municipal Elections

25 Years after Communism…

25 years in 60 seconds at the red-light…

I’m driving slowly in the dark and raining streets of my home town passing through clouds of car smoke. The gypsy ghetto in the outskirts of town is covered with the fog of fires made out of old tires burning in the yards. And the loud music adds that grotesque and gothic nuance to the whole picture with poorly clothed children dancing around the burnings.

The first red light stops me at the entrance to the “more civilized” part of the city. The bright counter right next to it slowly moves through the long 60 seconds while tiredly walking people pass through the intersection to go home and escape the cold rain. The street ahead of me is already covered with dirt and thickening layer of sleet.

This is how I remember Bulgaria of my youth and it seems like nothing has changed in the past 25 years.

The newly elected government just announced its coalition cabinet – next to a dozen like it that had failed in the past two decades. The gas price is holding firmly at $6/gal. and the price of electricity just increased by 10%, while the harsh winter is already knocking at the doors of poor Bulgarian households. A major bank is in collapse threatening to take down the national banking system and create a new crisis much like in Greece. These are the same factors that caused Bulgaria’s major inflation in 1993 and then hyperinflation in 1996-97.

What’s next? Another winter and again a hard one!

Ex-secret police agents are in all three of the coalition parties forming the current government. The ultra nationalistic party called “ATTACK” and the Muslim ethnic minorities party DPS are out for now, but awaiting their move as opposition in the future parliament. At the same time, the new-old prime minister (now in his second term) is already calling for yet another early parliamentarian election in the summer. This is only months after the previous elections in October, 2014 and two years after the ones before them on May 2013.

Every Bulgarian government in the past 25 years has focused on two rather mechanical goals: cardinal socio-economical reforms and battle against communism. The latter is simply unachievable without deep reformative change within the Bulgarian post-communist mentality. The purpose of any reform should be to do exactly that. Instead, what is always changing is the outwardness of the country. The change is only mechanical, but never organic within the country’s heart.

Bulgaria’s mechanical reforms in the past quarter of a century have proven to be only conditional, but never improving the conditions of living. The wellbeing of the individual and the pursuit of happiness, thou much spoken about, are never reached for they never start with the desire to change within the person. For this reason, millions of Bulgarians and their children today work abroad, pursuing another life for another generation.

The stop light in front of me turns green bidding the question where to go next. Every Bulgarian today must make a choice! Or we’ll be still here at the red light in another 25 years from now…

EU Referendum

by David Hathaway

I feel that I must write to you, urging you to pray. Yesterday I took part in two TV programmes regarding the referendum which will be broadcast on Revelation TV before June 23rd.

I am greatly troubled by the debate on both sides of the referendum on the EU. Neither side is dealing with the major issues, with claim and counter claim covering the main issues with a smoke screen, so that the public are being totally deceived. The two main issues being batted over the net are migration and the economy.

Migration is an issue so big that it dwarfs all other topics. The EU cannot handle this, it is not a political or military problem. Its root and answer is totally spiritual. Neither Britain nor the EU can solve this without God – but to accept Moslem countries such as 78 million Turks into ‘Christian’ Europe, either now or in the future -will create terrorism because our own experience is that they do not integrate, and it will bring Syria and Iraq directly on to our borders. The flood tide will be unstoppable.

The economy is also part of the smokescreen. The EU is an economic experiment which has failed. Of all the trading groups in the world, it has the lowest growth rate. Any attempt on our part to join it will inevitably bring disaster on us. Who are the economists who say that we will be worse off coming out of the EU? Why did they not foresee and warn us of the last recession in 2008?! It is no thanks to the EU and these economists that our recovery is faster and better than theirs. Proof enough that we are stronger without them.

Now for the major issue. If we remain in the EU we will have to surrender, not just sovereignty, but all democracy.

The EU is not democratic in any way. Just as under communism, the EU ‘parliament’ only votes through the issues presented to them by unseen, unelected ‘leaders’. I have known for many years that when sitting, the EU Parliament has so many pieces of legislation to pass in a limited time that there is very little discussion, so that bad laws are passed without question. Most of these issues, if brought before our Parliament, would be subject to much discussion, debate and amendment.

The other major issue of democracy is that many of the countries in the EU have never been democratic in the sense which Britain has. Our democracy dates back 800 years to the Magna Carter. German experience of democracy only came after the last war! Previously a collection of tribes or ‘princedoms’, finally united under the Kaiser, and then under Hitler – but never experiencing democratic rule until after WWII. Most of the countries which came out of communist control had also not experienced democracy. One would question France, especially Italy which is similar to Germany, also Spain under Franco, in fact with most of the countries within the EU, if they had experienced democratic government, it was only relatively recently. Look also at history in Austria, Hungary under the Hapsburgs.

In Europe, only Britain has a long and hard won history of true democracy. How can we even contemplate surrendering 800 years of history – and of bloodshed? Did the millions who gave their lives to defeat Napoleon – the Kaiser – Hitler – and communism, die in vain? Why are we surrendering our hard won freedoms in order to be ruled by an unelected ‘cabal’ whom we don’t know? No one is telling us who are the so-called ‘visionaries’, whose experiment we are, as they seek to establish the ‘New World Order’ of a Utopia without God?

Then there is the spiritual issue. In the treaties forming the Union, they openly rejected any suggestion of recognising our Judeo/Christian heritage. The European Parliament Building in Strasburg – built to continue the rebellion against God which started in Babylon with its famous tower; the ‘Woman on the Beast’ after which Europe gets its name – ‘Europa’: these two symbols alone identify Europe with rejection of God! The EU is designed to follow the French pattern of a totally secular state. Yet former French President Chirac himself said that, ‘in establishing a totally secular state, we created a dry river bed of atheism which will draw a flood tide of militant religion.’ You only have to look at France over the last year to see how prophetic his words were – truly the biggest threat to France today is that militant religion! Then the Bible is clear that God’s judgement is over the way that we treat Israel. In Britain we have supported Israel – both historically and now today. The EU has rejected Israel and politically and financially supports the Palestinians against Israel.

These issues were all dealt with when I produced my documentary film, ‘The Rape of Europe’ (which is available to watch below), 16 years ago. The fact that the EU features in Daniel’s prophetic picture as the last empire before Christ sets up His Kingdom on earth, is important, but just evidence of the truth of Bible prophecy.