Of the national officials in January 1973, Georgi Traykov, leader of the BZS, was one of two first deputy chairmen of the Fatherland Front. Earlier, he had been released as chairman of the National Assembly, which approved his nomination to the State Council, a move that was politically expedient in the view of Zhivkov to establish a "closer relationship ... between the State Council and the National Council of the Fatherland Front."
During the Thirty-Second Congress of the BZS, held in Sofia in October 1971, the presence of high-ranking BKP Politburo members as well as foreign delegates was very much evident. Boris Velchev, Politburo member and secretary of the Central Committee, delivered a speech praising the work of the BZS in its partnership with BKP in all aspects of Bulgaria's socialist development. Domestically, BZS was lauded for its efforts in the technological progress in agriculture resulting in the production of large quantities of cheap produce. BZS members were also praised as good machine operators in factories and as "innovators and frontrankers in field brigades and livestock farms."
Internationally, the BZS maintains contacts with dozens of agrarian and related organizations in various countries. As diplomats, national officials among the BZS leaders had demonstrated exceptional ability in foreign relations, especially where the regular high-ranking BKP representatives had been found less acceptable.
MASS ORGANIZATIONS
Mass organizations are auxiliaries of the BKP through which the party hierarchy exerts control over the bulk of the population. Established to serve the immediate interests of a particular class of workers or professionals, mass organizations work as transmission belts for the administration of party policies and the achievement of party goals. Most, if not all, of their chairmen are trusted and loyal BKP members.
The right to form organizations for any purpose not contrary to public law and national security is guaranteed in the constitution. These organizations may be political, professional, cultural, artistic, scientific, religious, or athletic. Furthermore, unions and other associations may be formed within public organizations and cooperatives. In all cases the guidelines set by the BKP for the development of a socialist state impose limitations on the operations of mass organizations. Recognition of the BKP as the leading political party and the subservience of all other organizations is clearly understood. The most important mass organizations are the Fatherland Front, the Central Council of Trade Unions, and the Komsomol and its affiliate Pioneer organization.
Fatherland Front
The Fatherland Front grew out of the internal dissension between the government and various political parties, in particular, the pro-Soviet elements who objected to the alliance with Nazi Germany. In March 1942 the government launched repressive measures in an attempt to immobilize communist activities. Working with a group of exiled Bulgarian leaders in Moscow, Georgi Dimitrov, former secretary-general of the Communist International (Comintern), urged action against the country's rulers, "who have sold themselves to Hitler." As conceived by Dimitrov, the program of the Fatherland Front aimed not only to bring down the "Hitlerite" regime and consequently establish a "true Bulgarian national regime" but also to declare Bulgaria neutral and dissolve its alliance with Germany.
Established in 1942, the Fatherland Front operated underground under communist leadership but also included other political parties. Cooperation among these political parties, however, did not take place without problems, mainly because each one espoused its own particular interests and viewed the BKP with suspicion. Leaders of each party worked as members of the National Committee (later known as the National Council) of the Fatherland Front. It was from within the Fatherland Front movement that the coup d'etat of September 1944 took place, the result of which was a coalition government.
When the Communists took full control of the government and dissolved the coalition, they retained the Fatherland Front as an umbrella organization. The BKP, of course, is the leading force within the front, which also includes the Bulgarian Agrarian Union and several other organizations. In effect the Fatherland Front is an instrument of the party through which most of the country's organized activities are controlled and supervised. Some of the tasks relegated to the front include the nomination and discussion of candidates for election to central and local bodies of state authority; the right to supervise the activities of enterprises, institutions, and organizations operating public utilities and services; and the right to supervise activities of workers and professionals to ensure conformance to party line and policy.