Few things remind me of Sweden in Bulgarian politics. One of them is the repeated efforts from the government to get access to citizen's internet communication. I sometimes wonder if it's the government that rules the police, or the police that rules the government. From tomorrow on the Swedish music industry will start chasing people downloading material Torrent technologies. According to DN, the industry (N.B.The industry themselves, not the police!) will focus on people up- and downloading considerable amounts, but in the end it's chance who decides which IP adrss we find, Lars Gustafsson, head of the record producers organisation Ifpi is quoted.
The other thing is the word "Ombudsman"
The new Swedish legalislation is maybe not totalitarianism, maybe nothing more than a bad suggestion than democracy can change in the next elections, but Sweden used to have an image of being a country where Human Rights were untouchable. That's why the Swedish language gave one of its most bureaucratically boring sounding words to Bulgarian - "Ombudsman". (I imagine trade union meetings in teh early sixties, someone complaines that the coffeebought for the paus room is from ICA, not Konsum, whereas the Ombudsman takes notes and promise that also this complain will be heard in te corridors of power.)
Bulgaria also have a man, Gunno Gannev, appointed ombudsman. As I have understood, he has the right to propose laws etc. to the parliament,on a citizen's initiative.
In Bulgarian the picture of the ombudsman is a lot more inspiring than that, he, or she ( I guess also a woman can be ombudsMAN in Bulgarian, please tell me if this is wrong). The ombudsman is a more direct way for dialogue with the power, not contaminated by pre- post- and fullblown socialist corrupted bureaucracy. For example, he is very central in Zelenite's ideas, about how to increase the dialogue between the politicians and the citizens.
Gunno Gannev has stood up to his responsability, and expressed his opinion, that the proposed law giving the ministry of interior access to citizen's digital data, is contra-constitutiona.
Sources: Dnevnik, Bulgaria e Nasha
For those who are interested:
Except for the connotations, I can also see quite a big different between the Swedish and the Bulgarian ombudsman. I guess Swedish readers by now wonder what Gannev is ombudsman for.
The Swedish ombudsman is perceived as a man protecting the majority against the majority, that can be clumsy and forget that all men are created different but equal when they vote nd legislate the best society. Typical minority: children, disabled
The Bulgarian ombudsman is, on the contrary, defending the society. Actuallly I think "the nation" is more to the point in English, if e can imagine a nation without militant nationalism. He is their voice, safeguarding their interest against minorities that might infringe the rights of the society/people/nation. Typical minorty: mafiosi, oligarcic politicians
Am I right? What did I misunderstand? I would love to discuss this topic with Bulgarians :)
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