I would add the current president Georgi Purvanov to the group of populists in Bulgarian politics. He came to power in 2001 with the populistic promise that he would be a "social president," by which he meant that he would focus on improving the standard of living of those who were suffering from the tough economic reforms the most. Of course, this sounded very appealing to a lot of people--people who were (and still are) so pressed by poverty that they were willing (like they seem to be now too) to believe anything. However, the question is: "Is it possible for the Bulgarian president to be `social'?" And the answer is very simple: "No." No matter how much he wants it, he can't do anything in reality just because he only has a representative function. Purvanov knew that very well but he was just throwing empty words that sounded good--so typical for a populist.

Moreover, now that the election is coming the President came out and accused the increasingly unpopular government, which he created himself last summer, of all kinds of things. Well, of course, he took credit for "saving the country from a political crisis" by playing a major role in forming the government but now that the government is failing he quickly distanced himself from it.