site.btaParliament Votes on Second-Reading Revisions to Election Code at Extraordinary Sitting

Parliament Votes on Second-Reading Revisions to Election Code at Extraordinary Sitting

Sofia, April 26 (BTA) - At an extraordinary sitting on Tuesday, the MPs continued the second-reading debate and voting on draft revisions to the Election Code.

The MPs decided conclusively that the election campaign will last 30 days, instead of 21 days as proposed by GERB, with 108 votes in favour, 13 against and 5 abstentions.

Parliament rejected the proposal that the election campaign be conducted in some cases in a language other than Bulgarian with a translation provided. Proposals to this effect had been tabled by independent MP Lyutvi Mestan and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which argued that this revision should be adopted so that Bulgaria can meet the European standards.

The National Assembly banned canvassing by religious denomination officials.

A coalition featuring parties with the right to state subsidy under the Political Parties Act should provide resources for media packages to an amount proportional to the share in the coalition of those formations which do not have the right to state subsidy.

The Central Election Commission (CEC), and not the municipal election commissions, will determine through a lot the individual number on ballot papers to be given to the parties and coalitions running in local elections, the MPs also decided.

According to the second-reading amendments, the CEC will announce the end of the election day after the voting is concluded on the country's territory no later than 9 pm, and not 8 pm as was the case until now.

The MPs also decided to increase the number of members in Sofia Municipality's election commission from 19 to 39.

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Citizens protested against the revisions to the Election Code by chanting "Resignation" and "Enough Tricks" in front of Parliament's building in Sofia. They oppose the "harsh barriers" to the voting of Bulgarians abroad and the introduction of compulsory voting. The protestors carried banners reading "Citizens against the mafia" and "Time's up".

Protestor Hristo Nikolov said that the amendments to the Election Code deprive Bulgarians abroad from the constitutional right to cast their vote, when they number no less than two to three million and constitute Bulgaria's economy.