site.bta Bulgaria for the Citizens Movement Cannot Cooperate with Movement for Rights and Freedoms or Parts of It

Bulgaria for the Citizens Movement Cannot Cooperate with Movement for Rights and Freedoms
or Parts of It

Sofia, January 11 (BTA) - The Bulgaria for the Citizens Movement (BCM) led by Meglena Kuneva does not deem it possible to cooperate with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) or parts of it. The BCM recalled that it had serious differences with the MRF on major legislation, including social security contributions, the anti-corruption law proposed by Kuneva, the original version of amendments to the Constitution, and the President's veto on the Military Intelligence Act, Dimiter Delchev told a news conference on Monday.

Kuneva commented that parties in Bulgaria are strongly influenced by their founders, that they tend to be authoritarian. It has been demonstrated that the MRF has one leader, Ahmed Dogan. This is not modern politics and it cannot work normally, said Kuneva.

MRF leader Lyutvi Mestan was ousted after the party's honorary chairman and former long-serving leader Ahmed Dogan slammed him for working to bring Bulgaria too close to Turkey. Mestan was not allowed to attend the meeting of the MRF leadership which decided to expel him.

Reiterating that the Reformist Bloc should work towards unity, Kuneva expressed a hope that the BCM and the Bloc would be able to make decisions in a democratic, not in an authoritarian manner. She explained that to this end the coalition bodies should resume functioning and the cracks in confidence among the coalition partners should be repaired.

Kuneva said it was odd that one of the Bloc's co-floor leaders, Radan Kanev, went into opposition, while the other, Nayden Zelenogorski, backs the government. "Zelenogorski's entire reputation is invested in the Bloc, so I do not like the fact that he has to find excuses for supporting the government and wanting to get something done," Kuneva said.

The annex to the coalition agreement with GERB lays emphasis on the speeding up of reforms in education, justice and administration, as well as on the accountability of the individual departments. The number of Reformist Bloc MPs who will back the annex will become known  on Tuesday when the parliamentary group is meeting. For now, 13 MPs have signed the draft document, which has been sent to all ministers nominated by the Bloc. The annex is expected to be signed by January 25.

During the new parliamentary session the BCM and the Reformist Bloc will prioritize amendments to the Election Code regarding machine vote counting, dealing with electoral rolls "padded" with fictitious names, a standing election administration, and voting preferences.