Bulgaria’s President: Parliament must complete its key tasks before being dissolved
Bulgarian President Roumen Radev indicated on September 3 that he expected the National Assembly to complete the approval of Budget amendments and other legislation before he would order it dissolved, following the failure of attempts to get a government elected.
Radev was speaking a day after the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which had received the third and final exploratory mandate to try to form a government, decided that it would return the mandate unfulfilled on September 7.
According to Bulgaria’s constitution, the failure of the process means that the President must dissolve Parliament, appoint a caretaker government and decree a date for new parliamentary elections. However, the constitution does not set a clear timeframe for the head of state to do this.
Radev said that the failure of Bulgaria’s MPs once again to elect a regular government did not exhaust their responsibility to Bulgarian citizens.
“Parliament has the responsibility to update the Budget, and I believe that our members will not leave workers, pensioners, hospitals and businesses without money,” he said.
Radev said that at the moment the agenda is not so much setting the date for the elections, but whether the National Assembly will be able to mobilise to complete at least part of its commitments to society.
“We all expect the MPs to organise their work as well as possible in the remaining days,” he said.
Radev said that in addition to updating the Budget and approving other important bills, it was also important to approve the National Reconstruction and Sustainability Plan.
Asked about the date for dissolving Parliament and decreeing new elections, Radev said that the issuance of the decrees depends on how MPs would organise their work so as to perform at least the most important part of their tasks.
Asked whether the parliamentary elections would be held “two-in-one” with the presidential election – following the National Assembly’s vote to hold the presidential election on November 14 – Radev said that he would seek a rational balance.
“Mixing parliamentary and presidential elections is against the spirit of our constitution and the division of responsibilities between the various institutions,” he said, while indicating that he would take into account the cost factor that would arise from holding the two elections separately.
Radev also said that “we must take into account the fact that the crisis is deepening”.
He said that the topic of the composition of the cabinet is not on the agenda.
“Currently, the most important thing is what Parliament will do,” Radev said.
Referring to the interim administration that he appointed in May, Radev said: “With this caretaker government, I wanted to show that a new model and style of government is possible that goes beyond the inherited antagonism between the parties. I think that this model turned out to be successful and showed serious results”.
(Photo: president.bg)
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