US embassy cable - 05SOFIA1054

UNCLAS  SOFIA 001054 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, BU 
SUBJECT: BULGARIA: GOVERNMENT PLAN FOR ELECTION LOTTERY 
STIRS DOMESTIC CONTROVERSY 
 
Ref: (A) SOFIA 1020, (B) SOFIA 1036 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  A government plan to use a lottery to 
boost voter turnout in the June 25 election has stirred 
controversy in Bulgaria, drawing criticism towards PM Simeon 
Saxe-Coburg's ruling party during the election campaign. 
The state-funded lottery - giving out prizes to those who 
vote - is unique for Bulgaria and the EU.  Ruling party 
officials have told us it is a key part of their plan to 
boost voter turnout in order to prevent the poll-leading 
Socialists from winning an absolute majority.  Both leftist 
and center-right opposition groups accused the ruling 
National Movement for Simeon II (NMSS) of scheming to buy 
votes, and attacked the government plan in court.  The 
provocative TV clips promoting the campaign added to the 
controversy as they were largely perceived as politically 
incorrect.  The government is determined to go ahead with 
the plan.  END SUMMARY 
 
2. (U) The government plans to award 800,000 levs ($502,510) 
worth of prizes -- including one car, cell phones, and 
computers -- to people who vote.  The remainder of the 4.0 
million ($2.5 million) in state election funds allocated for 
the plan will be used for an advertising campaign to get out 
the vote.  Those who wish to participate will have to send a 
text message via mobile phone, register on the Internet, or 
phone a landline number, submitting their personal 
identification number and the number of the voting station. 
The lottery will take place after the end of the vote in all 
31 electoral regions.  Government spokesman Dimitar Tsonev 
said the lottery was a legitimate method of raising voter 
turnout, used in the U.S., and Britain, although there it 
had been organized by non-governmental organizations. 
 
LOTTERY PLAN SPARKS POLITICAL ROW 
 
3. (U) Both leftist and center-right opposition groups 
slammed the government idea, saying the NMSS was scheming to 
buy votes and using taxpayers' money to raise voter turnout 
- which will fit its own political goals.  Under Bulgaria's 
complex proportional representation system, the ex-king's 
party, which relies predominantly on a soft vote, will 
benefit from higher turnout while the BSP has a strong core 
electorate and will gain more MP seats in case of a lower 
turnout (Ref. A, B).  The Socialists and two center-right 
groups -- the Union of Democratic Forces and the party of 
former PM Ivan Kostov -- challenged the government plan 
before the Supreme Administrative Court, which has yet to 
rule on the issue.  They say the lottery is illegal, as 
under electoral law only the Central Electoral Commission 
(CEC) can organize state-funded campaigns to boost turnout. 
The CEC also scolded the government for failing to clear the 
campaign with the Commission and withholding details about 
its funding.  The government did not seek through 
competitive bidding a company to manage the lottery 
advertising campaign, but instead directly hired the company 
currently advising the NMSS election campaign.  The 
Socialists requested an emergency session of parliament. The 
speaker of parliament, a ruling party member, refused to 
call the session, which only escalated the political row. 
 
4. (SBU) Senior NMSS officials publicly defended the plan, 
but said the party had nothing to do with it as it was a 
project initiated and handled by the government.  However, 
ruling party officials, including campaign chief Lidia 
Shuleva, have told us the government campaign to boost 
turnout was an important part of the party's strategy to 
prevent the Socialists from winning an absolute majority. 
The initial idea for the lottery came from a production 
company hired for the NMSS' election.  The company is known 
for producing the Bulgarian versions of "The Big Brother" 
and "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" but has no previous 
experience in political campaigning.  Its chief told us 
recently he had not expected the issue to trigger such a 
political row. 
 
RULING PARTY GETS NEGATIVE PUBLICITY 
 
5. (U) The provocative TV clips promoting the election 
lottery added to the controversy as they came under attack 
by the public and NGOs for political incorrectness.  One 
clip perpetuates a negative stereotype of Bulgaria's Roma 
population while another features obscene language.  The 
clips, which the producers say had been green-lighted 
personally by Simeon, had to be remade, deleting the 
controversial parts.  The lottery controversy drew 
predominantly negative press coverage.  "The People against 
the Election Lotto" read a front-page headline in Standart 
newspaper, which ran a poll showing that 70 percent of 
Bulgarians were against the lottery.  Some sociologists 
hailed the idea, saying only something innovative and 
provocative could bring the apathetic youth to the polls. 
 
 
The majority, however, said voters should be motivated 
through political and ideological means rather than material 
incentives.  The Socialists jumped at the opportunity to 
exploit the controversy, airing a TV cartoon ridiculing the 
lottery plan. 
 
6. COMMENT: The controversy surrounding the election lottery 
has hijacked media attention during the first week of the 
election campaign, overshadowed NMSS' leaders campaign 
activities and drawn predominantly negative coverage. 
Although it is not yet clear what the final outcome of the 
plan will be, so far it has not helped the NMSS narrow its 
gap with the Socialists. Instead, it has put the ex-king's 
party in the center of a political and legal row that draws 
negative publicity and subjects it to attacks by the 
opposition.  END COMMENT