site.btaSocialist Leader: Anonymous Alerts Are Unacceptable in a Democratic State

Socialist Leader: Anonymous Alerts Are Unacceptable in a Democratic State

Sofia, September 15 (BTA) - It is inadmissible for a democratic state, governed by the rule of law, to give a possibility for submitting anonymous alerts to the Bureau for Fighting Corruption, reads a reply of Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader Mihail Mikov to Transparency without Borders. The latter organization wrote to Mikov in connection with the anti-corruption law.

The Bill on the Prevention of Corruption of Senior Public Officials was rejected on first reading on September 3. It was aimed to establish a National Corruption Prevention Office (NCPO) as a single anti-corruption authority superseding a number of institutions currently active in this field.

Mikov points in his submission that the establishment of a new special body for fighting corruption is not efficient, which has been proven in previous such attempts on the part of the GERB Party. The initiative for the creation of such body causes concern for several reasons: the monocratic nature of the structure, its political dependence and the absence of representatives of the opposition in it, as well as the control of the executive and the majority, which creates preconditions for its use for political racketeering.

The BSP Chair denies allegations that the rejection of the Bill is a bad signal for a lack of will to fight corruption, adding that there are conditions for combatting this phenomenon even now.