The annual report and the election of a new party leadership was the focus of attention of all party members. NMSP was established as a movement in 2001 and governed the country during two full consecutive mandates. From 2001-2005 as the biggest parliamentary party and from 2005-2009 as the second biggest party in the then ruling coalition. The party was strongly confused after the unsatisfied results of the parliamentary elections held in July of this year and of the decision of H.M. Simeon Saxe Coburg to retire as a party leader.
During the congress speech H.M. Simeon Saxe Coburg said: “I will confess that I take the floor with excitement. Today is a great day for me, since something I have anticipated for a long time will happen – “to pass on the torch” to the younger ones. Such a time comes sooner or later and I am facing it calmly.
It is beyond any doubt that the change of the leader will be a challenge to the NMSP and I am well aware of this. I though, do not accept the speculations from here and there that I have almost abandoned my political project. I resigned the very day after the parliamentary elections, because a leader is responsible to one’s voters. However, I could not “abandon” the project called NMSP as I was able to fulfill my duty I had been prepared for since my childhood – to serve my Motherland here, not kilometers away.
In this sense I would like from now on to see the NMSP as a strong European team, which is not frightened of difficulties. Just the opposite – mobilizing its strength and resources to overcome them.
Liberalism and the political centre lend the unique opportunity of modern right economic policies and contemporary social programs to meet. Our vision is to create such conditions in the state as to facilitate people in taking their lives in their hands, to develop their potential in such a manner as to ensure an increasingly better life for them and their families. The NMSP used to be and should be the bearer of the European style in policy making
I would remind you an old proverb “sometimes when you lose, you don’t know what you win”. Now when the NMSP is not within the Parliament; this might turn to be the proper time to calmly update our ideas, to readjust the overall party life on all levels. The NMSP had the need to take a breath to move forward.”
There were four candidates for the position of Party President: Hristina Hristova, former MP in last two Bulgarian parliaments, Minister of Labour and Social affairs in the NMSP government and former MEP; Nicolay Vasilev, a former Vice Prime Minister and Minister; Bilyana Raeva, a former MEP and Iliya Lingorski, NMSP vice president.
Hristina Hristova received the majority of delegates’ votes. After the election she said: “I want to promise you a lot of work for saving liberal principles in Bulgarian politics, in support of ideas, given us by our leader H.M. Simeon the Second, such as tolerance, wisdom, moderation and a pragmatic policy.”