Do you know who Sherafet Mehmet is?
You should know his name, as he has been a Burgas municipal councillor for 13 years, having started his fourth term in the local parliament last autumn. Before that, he was a participant in three consecutive mandates – „2011-2015“, „2015-2019“ and „2019-2023“.
Currently, Sherafet Asan Mehmed is a member of some of the most important committees in the Municipal Council-Burgas – „Health“, „Social Activities“, „Maritime Affairs and Fisheries“ and the one for „Support of In Vitro Procedures“. Every month, a number of thematic reports pass through them, which require the necessary competence and in-depth analysis.
Despite his seemingly rich business card and allegedly successful career as a municipal councillor, Sherafet Mehmed cannot boast of any particular contribution to Burgas and its citizens. A check on the local parliament’s website shows that during his years as a councillor Mehmed has not submitted a single report, which casts doubt on his commitment to the city’s problems.
Iskra.bg also tried to find out how many speeches Mehmed made from the rostrum in the local parliament, but we were told that no such statistics are kept. In all likelihood, they also tend to zero or at best count on the fingers of one hand. Even the fact that for a long time the meetings of the Municipal Council-Burgas have been broadcast online and covered by a large number of local journalists does not seem to bother Mehmet, or at least not enough to make him more proactive.
In practice, this means that probably the only contribution for which he has been re-elected three times and for which he receives a substantial salary of around 2000 leva is related to voting for, against and abstaining on other people’s reports.
Perhaps not everyone is aware, but it is the municipal councils, and not the mayor alone, that make important decisions about various aspects of municipal life, including the management of education, health, infrastructure projects, social care and more. They play a key role in the management of local resources, including each municipality’s budget. The role of municipal councillors is extremely important as they allocate finances for various projects and programmes that should support development and improve the quality of life of citizens.
In order to achieve these goals, local politicians must show skill in the area in which they are most competent, as well as sufficient willingness and perseverance to take time out from writing reports and participating in debates to vote on them.
It is also interesting to note that on the website of the Municipal Council of Burgas, Bulgarian, Turkish and Russian are listed opposite Sherafet Mehmet’s name in the ‘foreign languages’ column.
I wonder why the politician from Burgas considers Bulgarian a foreign language and whether he can speak it fluently? The truth is that the ordinary citizen and voter can hardly give an answer to the question related to Sherafet Mehmet’s written and verbal Bulgarian language skills because he has not demonstrated them so far in the place where he is supposed to do so.
Two important questions arise from all this. The first is for what reason the MRF finds it appropriate to put Sherafet Mehmed as the leader of its list and why they are so pleased with his performance in previous mandates that they are giving him a vote of confidence for another one. The second is why the party’s own voters do not show a „red card“ to Mehmet because of his unsatisfactory performance and seek some alternative, taking advantage of the right of preference in voting, which ironically, it was the MRF that spoke out against years ago.
The lack of concrete achievements and contribution to Burgas turns the party into a phantom, which despite everything always manages to integrate into the local government. It remains an open question what these positions are used for if not for the good of the city and whether this is not related to some personal interests? It is very important for citizens to have transparency in politics, they have the right to know what is happening in their city and how resources are being allocated.
Either way, the next local elections are far enough away that Sherafet Mehmet will get another chance of almost four years to prove his qualities in local politics and to justify his high office, which is being fought for by hundreds of talented and ambitious citizens of Burgas. Here comes the role of the citizens, who at the next elections can decide for themselves whether to cast their vote for a party that puts voiceless politicians in the leading position in its list or to orient themselves towards people who really want to work for Burgas.
