Wednesday, May 6, 2009

How much does an election cost?

Social struggles turn into political, as Bulgaria rapidly moves towards two elections: to the national and the European parliament. The ecologists are focusing their work on the party Zelenite. At the moment the movement is looking for funds.

To register a party, or a coalition, you need to deposit 50 000 Leva per election (25 000EUR) To participate in both, Zelenite thus need 100 000 leva. Llast thing I heard, they had managed to collect more than 30 000 leva. Oddly enough, after deposing these money, the electoral campaign is not allowed to cost more than 200 000 leva.

For the blue coalition, it is still unclear whether SDS will be registered alone, or in coalition with DSB in the Europan elections. The legislatve authorities are still pondering.

While they are thinking, the campaign has started. Here is one poster from the blue coalition, depicting the socialists, DSP and the kings party as the losers of a football match. The poster is signed by the blue coalition.









Today is St George's day, a public holiday in Bulgaria. I am writing from a park where kids and parents enjoy the mellow May weather. Before we all watched the Bulgarian army on parade. The best part was, no doubt the orhestras, Bulgarian and international. International guests were foremost NATO partners, but also Russia, Ukraine and... The Republic of Moldova...

No comments: