It is important to listen to them while they are being listened to.

There are three reasons why this month, it is a priority to follow politics in the media, not elsewhere - certainly the main focus of politicians is to be alert to what they are saying, how they are saying it, and whether there is a microphone or camera around them at the relevant moment.

1. We are in the midst of a political campaign and the fourth estate largely determines what form the first two will take after May 12.

2. As a result of (1), the media were the first to be honored with the honor of being the arena of the loud SRC scandals, which in a country with a functioning democracy would have a serious effect on the electorate's choice.

3. More than once over the past four years, experts have noticed the unprecedented dependence between the government and the media, or in other words, the phenomenon of “government through television”.

These reasons are more than enough to pay special attention to the following three media appearances by individuals from the former ruling party:

1. " Eavesdropping does not affect ordinary people," commented Vladislav Goranov from GERB. According to him, this topic is not at all part of the public agenda against the backdrop of the economic crisis. [...]

"People are concerned about the increase in income and the reduction in unemployment," Goranov pointed out.

2. Boyko Borisov addressed journalists with the words: "Democracy gives me the right to speak and not to speak. I did not call you here." In a similar way, he responded yesterday to a question from BGNES in Smolyan about illegal wiretapping: "I can't hear you. I have nothing to do with you."

3. We have nothing to comment on, please cover the meeting, said Lilyana Pavlova. When the journalists finally caught up with the former minister, she stopped and emphasized: "We live in a democratic country and everyone has the right to say whatever they want. The prosecutor's office is the one that will prove anything, when it does its job everything will become clear. Until then, we have nothing to comment on."

Goranov's statement and the other two distinguish the two different reactions of GERB figures in response to the leaked SRCs involving Kokinov, Naydenov and Borisov. The first can be characterized as a panicked search for justification and populist legitimation after the scandal, and the others - as an absolute lack of such justification and a deafening silence while waiting for the noise surrounding the scandal to die down.

Goranov's initial reaction in this case, however, is very indicative of the overall mentality of the government of the favorite according to the sociological surveys GERB. The frank admission that politicians can safely eavesdrop on each other without it affecting the voters is scandalous.

First, because if the leaders and representatives of the voters, in other words - the people who are at the top of the hierarchy of power, are subject to such illegal, repressive and absolutely undemocratic practices, how can we imagine the attitude of the authorities towards the so-called ordinary person (to use the favorite pre-election cliché). The moment is appropriate for everyone to ask themselves the question: If the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the senior magistrates are subject to illegal surveillance (apart from moral considerations, who deserves it to what extent) and are grotesquely humiliated, how do I as a voter receive guaranteed personal security, personal protection?

There is no need to comment at all extensively on the topic of moral hazard and how, once the authorities have crossed the barrier and seen an opportunity to discredit privacy and freedom, they would have no reason to return to normal functioning.

Goranov's message that the people are not interested in SRC and wiretapping, but want a high salary is at first glance plausible, but can only be exploited for populist purposes. The close connection between a good life and the rule of law in a country should be more than clear to anyone who dares to engage in politics. GERB (as a right-wing party) unequivocally states its claims to fight for stimulating business and attracting investments. However, it is inexplicable how a foreign investor, a Bulgarian entrepreneur or anyone else would dare to work in a country without clear institutional powers, without a functioning judicial system and where the authorities openly admit their tendency to abuse illegal means and procedures.

Unregulated wiretapping is an indicator of precisely such an environment - of mutual suspicion and distrust in the highest ranks, cartels between the authorities, the potential for racketeering and complete unpredictability and dependence of the functioning of the state on processes that occur in the shadow of lawlessness. A second, no less important argument, is the unambiguous dependence between personal freedom and freedom of economic activity (it is this, or as Goranov puts it, “the increase in income and the reduction of unemployment”, that GERB exploits as the main source of welfare in its program).

The other alternative, in which Goranov's statement would not be equivalent to political suicide, is the management of the maximum welfare state and the minimum accountability, transparency and freedom. Our own national history allows us to know perfectly well how this alternative works, and how it crashes. It is hardly right in the run-up to the election that GERB wants to be associated with totalitarianism, allowing the security services such arbitrariness and impunity. In this sense, a smarter move for GERB representatives would be not to affirm wiretapping as the norm, but as an exception. Such a statement is the only one that can prove that, after all, the mentality of the political elite has not evolved even minimally over the last 20 years.

The behavior of Boyko Borisov and Lilyana Pavlova is no less scandalous and, despite their stubborn silence, is subject to comment. For all the years of GERB's rule, it was the media, not silence, but speech, that was considered the "pillar" that kept the government from falling apart. The most important decisions, dialogues, and in general the entire political process associated with GERB, was carried out in the studios of television stations and on the front pages of newspapers.

The fact that the figures of this government are silent is a clear symptom that its arguments for having a moral right to exercise power have been exhausted.

Statements to journalists like "I didn't call you here" also perfectly describe the practices of a type of government that does not take into account the meaning of freedom of speech and the idea of journalism that exists in a democratic society. Namely - journalists are not ordered, called and instructed on demand. And holding accountable for suspicions of total corruption of freedom and the rule of law is not a sin, but an obligation.

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