Bulgaria Constitutional Court sides with Cabinet on ‘Board of Peace’ dispute
Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court ruled on June 25 to annul a National Assembly decision mandating the country’s government to table the ratification of the “Board of Peace” charter in Parliament.
The National Assembly voted on March 13 to oblige the government to table the ratification of the agreement on the country’s accession to Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace”, signed by the Rossen Zhelyazkov government.
The Andrei Gyurov caretaker Cabinet, which was in office at that point, challenged Parliament’s decision at the Constitutional Court, saying that the National Assembly exceeded its authority by making the request, because foreign policy matters were in the purview of the executive branch of government, not the legislative one.
In its ruling, the Constitutional Court agreed with the government’s argument, saying that the National Assembly decision breached the principle of separation of powers.
It noted that Parliament has a say in foreign policy insofar as it is required to ratify some international treaties, but the legislative initiative of when to table them for ratification rested solely with the government.
The Parliament’s decision was taken at the insistence of Delyan Peevski, sanctioned under the US Magnitsky Act for large-scale corruption, and was backed by Boiko Borissov’s GERB-UDF, Peevski’s MRF – New Beginning and populist party ITN.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
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