site.btaPM Says He Asked - not Pushed - Interior Ministry Chief Secretary to Resign

PM Says He Asked - not Pushed - Interior Ministry Chief Secretary to Resign

Sofia, February 24 (BTA) - Prime Minister Ognyan Gerdjikov told reporters here Friday that he had asked Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Georgi Kostov to resign - but did not push him into doing it or somehow threatened him. Gerdjikov's comment comes in the wake of the start of a probe by the prosecuting magistracy following a complaint by Kostov that he had been pressured to resign by acting Interior Minister Plamen Uzunov.

"If you call 'pressure' asking somebody to resign, indeed it was a terrible pressure," said Gerdjikov.

He said it was only fair on his side to ask the Interior Ministry Chief Secretary to resign "after he had lost the Interior Minister's trust and after serious violations by the Chief Secretary had been established".

Gerdjikov also said he has no idea whether the conversation when he "asked" Kostov to resign, was recorded. He said he would be happy if that was the case "because you would hear something that would not support the Chief Secretary's cause". Gerdjikov declined to elaborate.

Earlier in the week President Rumen Radev, acting on the government's proposal, decreed the dismissal of Georgi Kostov from the position of Interior Ministry Chief Secretary. The reasons for the dismissal were "established violations affecting one of the core principles of the Interior Ministry: political neutrality".

Interior Minister Uzunov denied having any personal reasons to seek Kostov's elimination from the Ministry.

Former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov commented in the wake of Kostov's dismissal that it, among with the recent replacement of regional governors, comes as an indication that the Bulgarian Socialist Party are paving the way to buying these elections.

On Friday, he reiterated his position that if the caretaker Prime Minister denies to have used pressure for this reshuffle and it remains unclear who is behind the replacement of the top professional figure in the Interior Ministry - and even BSP leader Kornelia Ninova does not know, "obviously nobody in this country knows what is going on".