Just ahead of the Orthodox Easter former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who leads the largest party in the Bulgarian parliament, let out of breath of fresh air into what critics had described as the increasingly stale atmosphere of local politics
Easter, according to Boyko Borisov, was the "brightest of holidays" and we all lived in the "best days of the Christian religion."
It is difficult to translate anything Boyko Borisov says because it usually needs footnote clarifications, so here is his interpretation of the Gospel rendered verbatim: "For me, Easter is the brightest holiday because they tortured our God in the most despicable way, they thrust thorns into his head, they put nails through his hands, and they tied him to the tree of the cross. And when they denied him, everyone, he suddenly appeared from above and said boing-boing! He even made disbelieving Thomas, because he had his doubts about the many nail holes, and told him, okay, choose a hole and poke your finger through it so that you'll know it's real, but you should pick up just one hole, don't poke me through the whole body."
Borisov made the above biblical interpretation talking to the media in the National Assembly.
He added that everyone being in denial of Christ was all too telling about "our habits" as well and that Easter was the best thing that could ever happen.
The former Bulgarian prime minister has been well-known for his penchant for bons mots through the years. While he is no longer in the focus of every media event all the time, Borisov has already gone down in history as one of the brightest minds this country has ever nurtured. One of his best remembered flare-ups was in Kardzhali where he met with some factory workers about to be given the boot from their jobs. Even his most vitriolic critics cannot repudiate his innate, if slightly off-hand wisdom: "You are simple people," Borisov told the crowd. "And I am simple man. So we will get on with each other."
The head of the Orthodox Church had a terse comment to make. Patriarch Daniil said Boyko Borisov was not a theologian, but reiterated religion should be a part of the national school curriculum – a contentious issue especially having in mind this country's various religious and ethnic minorities.
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