Bulgarian President Radev vetoes proposed amendments to Defence Act
Bulgarian President Roumen Radev said late on November 11 that he vetoed some provisions of the Defence and Armed Forces Act, arguing that they risked to worsen the staffing issues in the Bulgarian armed forces.
One of the key provisions of the bill is raising the mandatory retirement age of armed forces members, dependent on their rank – from age 51 for privates and seamen to age 67 for full generals and admirals.
At the time the bill was passed by the National Assembly last month, media reports noted that the changes would allow Admiral Emil Eftimov to serve out his four-year term as chief of defence, the highest-ranked military officer in the Bulgarian armed forces, instead of retiring upon reaching age 65 next year.
In his motives, Radev said that he welcomed a number of provisions improving the regulatory framework of the armed forces, but objected to raising the mandatory retirement age.
He argued that it would not solve the staffing issues of the Bulgarian armed forces, while demotivating lower-ranked officers who meet the criteria for advancement, but cannot do so until higher-ranked officers retire.
One of the reasons cited by the bill’s sponsors for the change was that this would ensure continuity in command ranks as Bulgarian armed forces are slated to acquire a number of new armaments in the coming years. Radev countered that continuity by itself would not guarantee higher efficiency in the process of training and using those new armaments.
Bulgaria’s constitution grants the head of state a limited power of veto, through enabling the President to return legislation to the National Assembly for further discussion.
The National Assembly may overturn the President’s veto through a simple majority vote or accept the veto and review the vetoed clauses. Since taking office in January 2017, Radev made liberal use of the power and this was his 45th vetoed bill. It was also the fifth veto he imposed in the past month.
The National Assembly overturned the veto on all but eight occasions – seven times the veto was accepted by MPs and, in the other case, the government coalition at the time failed to muster the support needed to overturn it.
(Roumen Radev photo: president.bg)
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