There Is Such a People (, ITN) is a populist political party in Bulgaria established by Bulgarian singer, TV host and politician Slavi Trifonov. Self-described as a "political product", the party is named after one of Trifonov's own musical albums.
History
Foundation
Trifonov originally attempted to found a political party under the name of "There is No Such State" (). The application was turned down as the Supreme Court of Cassation of Bulgaria ruled that the party's proposed logo (a Bulgarian flag placed on top of an open human palm) violated the country's prohibition against the use of national symbols by political parties, causing him to change the name to "There Is Such a People" and adopt a new logo.
April 2021 election
The party fared well in its first-ever election, the April 2021 Bulgarian parliamentary election, finishing second in the polls behind GERB. Trifonov won a seat in the National Assembly, but stated that he had contracted COVID-19 and as such demanded that he be allowed to attend the swearing-in ceremony remotely, which he was allowed to do. However, even after his recovery Trifonov refused to ever attend or even visit the parliament. After GERB failed to form a government, as per the Bulgarian constitution, ITN was handed the mandate to do so by the Bulgarian President. The party insisted on proposing a single-party cabinet, offering a chess player with no political experience as prime minister-designate. The proposal received no support from parliament, and as such the party withdrew its proposition before the deadline. Shortly thereafter, it stated that it would not support any other government and would seek new elections. As no majority had formed around any political party, the parliament was dissolved and snap elections were called for two months later.
July 2021 election
During the election campaign period, the party essentially refused to campaign or issue promises, largely staying out of the political debate. This was initially shown to be a winning move, as the party experienced a surge in popularity. Having faced criticism for never attending parliamentary sessions during the previous convocation, Trifonov did not put himself forward as a candidate, stating that it was "not his place" and that his job would be to "take on responsibility" from outside the National Assembly. In the July 2021 snap parliamentary election, ITN polled narrowly ahead of GERB, thus winning a plurality, though not a majority, in the National Assembly. ITN attempted to convince three members of Bulgaria's apolitical caretaker cabinet to join ITN as political ministers, but all three refused, stating that ITN had demanded public sector cuts, a zero-point budget deficit and the privatisation of the Bulgarian Development Bank as policy — demands that the ministers did not agree with.
Plans for a coalition formed around opposition to GERB were quickly dashed, as ITN declared that it would not take part in any coalition and would only rule by itself, with a "government of experts" consisting only of ITN party members. This immediately triggered backlash both politically and among the broader population, both due to the usage of power politics and the fact that ITN's proposed "government of change" was staffed largely by retired ex-NDSV politicians with a poor reputation among Bulgarians. The party proposed one of its own members, Nikolay Vasilev, for the post of Prime Minister. The proposal proved controversial and did not attract any political support. Moreover, Trifonov was widely criticised for not taking part in political negotiations, instead only communicating through Facebook posts. Trifonov rejected the criticism, stating that he would continue communicating through the social network, but sacked Vasilev's candidacy and promised to "renovate" his cabinet proposal. Bulgaria's remaining political parties stated that they would refuse to comment on Facebook posts and would wait for a formal political announcement.