site.btaPresident Radev: 44th National Assembly Should Find Solution to Problems, Encountered in Elections

President Radev: 44th National Assembly Should Find Solution to Problems, Encountered in Elections

Sofia, April 11 (BTA) - The responsibility for finding a solution to the problems that were outlined during the past elections rests with the 44th National Assembly, President Rumen Radev said in an address to the nation.

"These elections outlined major problems. We witnessed an organized attempt for exerting an external influence on the election results," he said. Only the Bulgarian institutions and the wisdom of the Bulgarian citizens prevented this from happening, he added. During the election campaign the parties urged for extreme measures violating effective laws, including revoking of the dual nationality, closure of voting sections and borders. The topic was quickly buried after the elections," Radev said adding that the problems persist.

These problems are not confined only to an external interference in the election process but involve purposeful attempts at systematic and deep penetration and influence on the society and the political life in the country. After years of waste of the national sovereignty, responsible and efficient legislative and organizational actions are needed today, he added.

It is the next National Assembly that should find a solution to these problems, the President noted. He hailed "the courage and efforts of the Justice Ministry to formulate specific proposals for legislative amendments covering not only changes in the election law but also key amendments to other laws aimed at strengthening the shaken immunity".

Last week the Justice Ministry posed on its website a Bill to Supplement the Bulgarian Citizenship Act. The draft legislation in question gave rise to a heated controversy as it proposed, by amending the Election Code, the introduction of three-month residence qualifications for voting in parliamentary and presidential elections, practically disenfranchising about a million and a half expat Bulgarians. On April 5 the bill was withdrawn and the Ministry employee who allegedly posted it "without clearance with the Minister of Justice and in violation of an effective order" was dismissed.

"Certain people saw restriction of rights in the proposed ideas. The most important protection of the rights of the Bulgarian citizens abroad is to make sure that they can return in an independent and sovereign Bulgaria," the President said. He noted that the debate took the political elite out of a year-long lethargy.

According to Radev, apart from fulfillment of election promises, the society also expects measures against poverty, corruption and crime.