GRANDEUR DISINTEGRATES

by Stamen Manolov

No pollster had the slightest idea this would (or could) happen, but the latest snap election produced a new party in Bulgarian politics: Grandeur

Velichie.jpg

The new party, centred around a Disneyland-style theme park with strong "patriotic" connotations and located in northeastern Bulgaria, was represented by two men. Lieutenant-Colonel Nikolay Markov (who introduces himself as "colonel"), who became the leader of the 13-strong parliamentary faction of Grandeur, and Ivelin Mihaylov, the owner of the theme park, whom his ilk presented as Grandeur's "ideologue."

Trouble is, the Grandeur faction disintegrated before it could start work in this country's top legislative organ. Mihaylov came out with some strong-worded criticism of "reprobate" MPs who were willing to support Boyko Borisov's GERB. The "colonel" was quick to shoot back. He reported Mihaylov had taken the cell phones from some of his MPs, then locked the MPs themselves in a barn for several hours. "Envy, hate and gluttony are human passions that destroy every second being on this planet," commented Markov. His supporters in parliament, who felt disenfranchised, demanded a parliamentary committee to investigate any financial wrongdoing in Mihaylov's businesses.

As a consequence, the 13-strong group fell apart. All of its MPs are now independents, which in Bulgarian parliamentary parlance means they will be ready to join whoever comes up with the best offer. One of them commented: "This is the end of the Grandeur political party."

Meantime, Ivelin Mihaylov said the development spelled out the beginning of the end of his theme park as well: "I am being banned from conducting commercial activities to generate me funds [sic] to continue the struggle," Mihaylov was quoted as saying,

The "historical park" near the village of Neofit Rilski is being described by some media as a classic Ponzi scheme.

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