Tsar Simeon campaigns to be King, not Prime Minister

What would have happened if the former Tsar of Bulgaria, Simeon II, returned in 1996 and campaigned only for a restoration of the monarchy, instead of direct involvement in politics? Would restoration have been more likely and successful? If so, what would the repercussions have been for European monarchy as a whole, e.g. Romania, Serbia, Albania?
 
Restored monarches all around, YAY!!! :D
Seriously, it would be pretty cool if that would happen.
Much better than the yucky republics:mad:
 

SPQR

Banned
Yay, thread about Bulgaria, time to get out of lurking mode :D

Thats definitely not an ASB-scenario. In 1995-6 Bulgaria was in a huge financal and political turmoil, that led to the complete collapse of the goverment and the economy in 1997. Also the people were thinking highly of the ex-Tsar - he steamrolled the elections in 2001 and that was after Bulgaria managed to recover.


My really quick timeline, so we can have something to work with.
March of 1996 - Simeon II announces in a popular Bulgarian political program that he is willing to return to his country, take his place as Tsar and lead it out of the mess(ATL).
Mid-1996 - the economy is marching straight towards the abyss and the goverment cannot stop it(OTL)(doesnt want to do it, says Simeon II)
Winter of 1996 - the prime minister Videnov steps down and Bulgaria enters into a political crisis(OTL). Already ammased huge public support the ex-monarch calls for referendum to determin the future of the country(ATL).
December-January 1996-1997 - massive strikes and a attempt to take over the parliament building by the mob. The police and the army say that they wont allow bloodshed. The bulgarian currency - the lev goes straight to the toilet thanks to huge inflation(OTL).
Next month(we are going all ATL) - Forced by public pressure the president calls for a referendum - Monarchy or Republic. The elections are called for April. Simeon II uses its time to make amazing campaign, that plays to the long time lost economic and political stability(even the old guard in Bulgaria saw Boris III in a good light) from the time of his dad - Boris III and sound economic plans that are backed by the right opposition.
Election day - The people vote M and Simeon II declears himself Tsar of all the Bulgars all over the world in a constitutional monarchy with big powers granted to the Tsar, followed by a mission to the world bank to secure currency board for the Bulgarian lev that stabilizes the country(the same way that happened in OTL)

 
Simeon was relatively popular for a while so it might have worked if he had tried to restore the monarchy in post-communist Bulgaria. If he did, it could have set a precedent, namely the restoration of the former ruling houses in eastern Europe which were deposed by the Soviet Union (or another occupying power/aggressor). If so, Romania could see a restoration too since Michael II of Romania is still alive and was quite popular in the early 1990s. I'm not sure about Serbia and Albania since these countries overthrew their monarchies by their own means after Ww II. They could have let the monarchy come back after WW II, buy went with Tito and Enver Hoxha respectively instead. AFAIK, the former ruling houses were never quite as popular post-communism as those of Romania and Bulgaria were at the time.
 
As others have said, if things go reasonably well with restoration in Bulgaria, it could set off a moderate chain reaction in other former communist states with deposed monarchs. with Juan Carlos in Spain and Simeon in Bulgaria, there might even be an emerging idea that a monarchy is a good way to help countries recently under dictatorial rule make the transition to democracy.

That could lead to all kinds of interesting implications further down the line. If the Afghanistan and Iraq wars are not butterflied away, the US might restore the former monarchies there in an effort to maintain stability.
 
Liking a politician is not the same as wanting him to be king.

I have serious doubts that those people who lived in Bulgaria would welcome a return of monarchism.
 

SPQR

Banned
Liking a politician is not the same as wanting him to be king.

I have serious doubts that those people who lived in Bulgaria would welcome a return of monarchism.
Simeon II wasn't a politician in 1996(nor in 2001, he ran as the leader of national movement, not political party).

During the 1996-97 the Bulgarians were willing to welcome a military dictatorship to get them out of the mess.

BTW: If they bring back the monarchy in Russia or Bulgaria, the Tsar will be direct successor of the Roman Empire, it doesnt get better that that - ex-communist country - leader of the Western civilization :D:D:D...someone call Putin.
 
I believe his first intention was to run for president, rather than for parliament (in order to become pm). In the end, he couldn't, because the constitution stated (states?) that one must have resided for at least 5 years in the country immediately prior to the elections. Without this specific clause (article 93.2 of the Bulgarian constitution, apparently), he could've run for president in 1997. The presidentship seems a better steppingstone for kingship than a position as pm, because it stands more above daily politics and thus, he's less likely to be blamed for the government's failing to live up to its promises and might cut a good figure in comparison to the pm.
 
Simeon was relatively popular for a while so it might have worked if he had tried to restore the monarchy in post-communist Bulgaria. If he did, it could have set a precedent, namely the restoration of the former ruling houses in eastern Europe which were deposed by the Soviet Union (or another occupying power/aggressor). If so, Romania could see a restoration too since Michael II of Romania is still alive and was quite popular in the early 1990s. I'm not sure about Serbia and Albania since these countries overthrew their monarchies by their own means after Ww II. They could have let the monarchy come back after WW II, buy went with Tito and Enver Hoxha respectively instead. AFAIK, the former ruling houses were never quite as popular post-communism as those of Romania and Bulgaria were at the time.

Many of you are saying exactly want I wanted to hear, it's interesting to consider the possibilities and influence it would have had across Europe. Eastern Europe is sadly lacking in the European tradition of constitutional monarchy. Maybe if Simeon II had been restored, and Bulgaria had experienced some improvements after that, perhaps Leka's campaign for monarchy would have been more successful in Albania. However, it wasn't really the peoples' choice between monarchy and communism, they were imposed whether they liked it or not. Although the Serbs would probably have favoured Tito, as he was considered responsible for forcing out Nazi occupation in Yugoslavia, Zog was forced from the Albanian throne by Italian forces.
 
the monarchy would solved lot of the problems in the former monarchies in east Europe. For a reason or other, it seems this is not the desire of great powers, who tolerate, rather, semi-anarchic democracies
 
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