site.btaGERB, ABV Will Back Zaharieva for Justice Minister, Reformist Bloc, Patriotic Front Are Divided

GERB, ABV Will Back Zaharieva for Justice Minister, Reformist Bloc, Patriotic Front Are Divided

Sofia, December 17 (BTA) - GERB and ABV will back Ekaterina Zaharieva for justice minister, while the Reformist Bloc and the Patriotic Front are divided on her nomination, it emerged on Thursday after Zaharieva met with those political forces.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov nominated President Plevneliev's Chief of Cabinet as justice minister on Wednesday. She is to replace Hristo Ivanov, who resigned after the passage of constitutional amendments on December 9, arguing that GERB had backtracked on changes agreed earlier.

Zaharieva can rely on GERB's support at Friday's vote in Parliament, said Floor Leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

ABV will back Zaharieva because the party likes her markedly consensual approach, said ABV Deputy Floor Leader Mariana Todorova. She promised that every time she suggests legislative amendments, as in the Judicial Power Act, she will first submit a draft for discussion to the parliamentary groups, and will then table the final version. This is the opposite to the current approach where a consensus is sought after the final version of the bill is prepared.

Zaharieva largely agreed with ABV that a Judicial Reform Council should be set up, but while she argued that it should be attached to the Justice Minister, ABV wants it set up with Parliament. Zaharieva promised it would include members of academia to guarantee that it makes unbiased decisions. She also said she would act in accordance with the constitutional amendments adopted on Wednesday. The nominee is also in favour of quick introduction of e-justice, for which ABV first called in February.

The Patriotic Front will not vote unanimously on Friday as nine MPs approve the nomination and seven will abstain. The coalition's co-chairmen, Valeri Simeonov (National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria) and Krassimir Karakachanov (Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization), made it clear that the MPs would vote according to their conscience.

Simeonov is dissatisfied with Zaharieva's answers about construction projects in Chervenka near the Black Sea town of Chernomorets, which he claims are owned by President Rosen Plevneliev, and with Zaharieva's attitude to the protesting magistrates. She also had to answer some questions about her career.

In contrast, Karakachanov is satisfied with Zaharieva's vision for further reforms in the judiciary and her readiness for more dynamic, quality work for granting Bulgarian citizenship to ethnic Bulgarians from the historical Bulgarian communities in Macedonia, Ukraine and Moldova.

The Reformist Bloc has not decided yet whether it will vote for Zaharieva's election, Co-floor Leader Nayden Zelenogorski told journalists after the MPs met with the nominee. He explained that the parliamentary group makes decisions by a two thirds majority, which was not achieved on Thursday. "In such cases the MPs vote according to their conscience and personal convictions," said Zelenogorski. Some MPs have not made up their mind yet.

Regarding the meeting with Zaharieva, Zelenogorski said the participants expect the judicial reform to make considerable progress in the next six months, the most important laws being the Judicial Power Act and the Bill on the Prevention of Corruption of Senior Public Officials. He said: "If the amendments to the Constitution had not been passed on Wednesday, there would have been no judicial reform in the next few years."

The Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms made it clear on Wednesday they would not back Zaharieva.