Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court rejects suit to overturn May elections
Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court said on July 9 that it ruled against the suit lodged by Boiko Borissov’s party GERB to declare the May 12 2013 parliamentary elections void.
In a statement posted on its website, the court said that it decided to reject the suit, but gave no further details about its reasoning. The full reasoning is expected to be published on July 10, reports in local media said.
GERB, which won the most seats in Parliament but was unable to form a government in the face of opposition from the other three parties elected, asked the court to overturn the elections on the grounds of violations of electoral law on the eve-of-elections “day of contemplation”.
Law regarding the “day of contemplation” is that there should be no campaign activity. But when news broke of a raid by prosecutors and agents of the State Agency for National Security on a printing house allegedly involved in printing illegal ballots, there was extensive news coverage – much of it alleging a link between the printing operation and Borissov’s party – as well as widespread political reaction.
GERB filed the lawsuit on May 22 and the court ruled that it was admissible on May 23.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
