Bulgarian Socialist Party in new manoeuvre on country’s political future
The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), holder of the third and final mandate to seek to form a government, has mapped out the crossroads for the country’s immediate political future.
Parliament, as its first item on July 27, will be asked to accept a programme envisaging the approval of 79 bills by the end of 2022.
These bills arise from a governance and legislative programme agreed by the remaining three parties in the governing coalition – We Continue the Change (WCC), the BSP and Democratic Bulgaria.
If Parliament accepts the programme, the BSP will proceed to nominate on July 28 WCC co-leader Assen Vassilev as its candidate Prime Minister.
Vassilev had already confirmed that he was ready to accept the nomination, BSP leader Kornelia Ninova told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting of the party’s national council.
The BSP also will propose that Parliament continues to sit into August for votes requiring urgent solutions, such as the election of a new head of the energy regulatory commission.
If Parliament rejects the proposal on the legislative and governance programme, the BSP will “probably on Friday” hand back unfulfilled the mandate to President Roumen Radev, setting Bulgaria on the path to early parliamentary elections, Ninova said.
The proposal tabled in Parliament by the BSP provides, among other things, for the election of Boiko Rashkov – Interior Minister in the outgoing government – as head of a revamped anti-corruption commission, the adoption of anti-corruption legislation, and the filling of the vacant post of Speaker of the National Assembly.
The package is billed as including social support of families and households and the approval of legislation that will enable the payment to Bulgaria of EU funds under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan.
The programme has a timeframe from July to December 2022.
“We want to finally impose principled, responsible and statesmanlike behaviour in politics,” Ninova said.
“Here – I stand before the Bulgarian people and say: We have made every effort to help you in the coming months. The result is this – these laws will ensure peace and security. If they are supported, we move forward. If they are not supported, we will go to elections,” she said.
Ninova, whose party has held the third mandate since July 18, said: “In recent weeks, we have been negotiating to form a government absolutely honestly, driven only by the desire to guarantee the stability of Bulgaria and calm for the people
“During this time, we developed a management and legislative programme for the next six months.
“It is orientated to the following areas – continuing the fight against corruption and theft; the programme contains anti-corruption legislation, the election of the anti-corruption commission, with Boiko Rashkov as its head,” she said.
“The third part is support for families and households in the difficult months that await us, and the fourth part is the laws that need to be passed under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan to guarantee all the measures in the coming years,” Ninova said.
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