For 5 months, the Bulgarians did not manage to understand what the political platform of Velichie was, but from the first day of the party, they were immersed in Machlen scandals between its founders
The disintegration of the Velichie parliamentary group did not particularly alarm the party’s voters, but despite this, Ivelin Mihailov will not be a deputy. He remains in the village of Neofit Rilski, after only 29 votes fell short of his party’s 4 percent threshold for parliament.
This time Mihailov promised to become a member of parliament if Velichie entered the parliament. He was a newspaper leader in Pleven, where he grew up. The party gathered almost the same support as in the previous election – 99,862 votes in June and 97,430 now with 100% processed protocols.
Velichie became a parliamentary force for the first time after the elections on June 9 this year, but had a sad fate. The scandals started from day one, when the chairman of the group, Nikolay Markov, was late for his oath, and then he justified himself by saying that he was threatened by intermediaries of other parties. In just three weeks, the parliamentary group disintegrated after a series of Makhlen scandals and even accusations that Mihailov was
kept half his parliamentary group locked in a barn
Half of the previous deputies have now found a place in his lists – those who remained loyal to him, but most of the other candidates are unknown. With the other half, deputy Viktoria Vasileva founded a new party, but without Markov, who dropped out of Mihailov’s lists as well. Disillusioned with politics, Etienne Levy did not run again at all.
After they heated up with scandals among themselves in the parliament, the discord continued, but now with a new focus – on the business of Ivelin Mihailov and his “Historical Park” in the Varna village of Neofit Rilski. Doubts arose that the park was at the heart of a financial scam. A special parliamentary commission was even created to investigate. In the course of its meetings, it became clear that the Ministry of the Interior had conducted dozens of checks on Mihailov and people related to him, as well as that he himself owned over 30 firearms. The businessman did not set foot in the parliament, but he organized several protests in front of the building. Some of its loyal deputies turned out to be connected to companies related to the management of the “Historical Park”.
These days Mihailov is silent. At the end of the election day, it was released on social networks from the gym and prompts for high activity. After the end of the vote, however, until Monday evening there was not a single public appearance, only one sentence of thanks to the voters.
The representatives of Velichie from the previous elections are known to be against the writing of new laws,
they do not want to rule or support a foreign government
Little is known about the priorities of the “Historical Park” party. For Ivelin Mihailov, investments in transport are important – he wants to complete the highways, invest in new trains and build the Vidin – Vratsa – Sofia expressway. There is also a 20-year development plan for Bulgaria, which includes improving agriculture, water, health care and fighting corruption and crime. He is pushing for reforms in the tourism sector. He said that he is not against the European Union and NATO, but he is probably against Schengen – he thinks that “Bulgaria should take care of which people enter and leave the country, and not be a “broken yard”. From the few appearances of his people in the parliament, it is known that they are against the green transition and the closure of coal plants, as well as that they insist on returning the constitution to its form before the changes.
Little is known about Mihailov himself. He is 45 years old and was born in Gorna Oryahovitsa, but grew up in Pleven. He has four children, but according to unofficial information he is divorced from his wife Vasya. And now, however, she is the owner of many properties connected to the park – over 100 according to the Property Register. He enjoys great popularity online, often goes live on Facebook and talks about the park and the current problems of the country, communicates with his fans and answers questions. He talks about the problems of the common man, the depopulation of the country and proposes to stimulate small businesses. He describes himself as a “man of the people”, shows himself to be kind and sociable and often shows his home.