site.btaMPs Vote Ad Hoc Committee To Work on Constitution Revisions

MPs Vote Ad Hoc Committee To Work on Constitution Revisions

Sofia, May 28 (BTA) - With 118 votes "for", four "nays" and 14
abstentions MPs Thursday voted in favour of the establishment of
an ad hoc committee to work on the revisions to the
Constitution tabled by GERB, the Reformist Bloc, the Patriotic
Front and eight MPs for the parliamentary group of the Bulgarian
Democratic Center (BDC).

The committee will be compiled on a parity principle and will
have 16 members - two each from each group, including a chairman
and a deputy chairman. Dimiter Lazarov of GERB was elected
Chairman and his deputy will be Atanas Atanassov of the
Reformist Bloc.

By a motion of the Movements for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), the
decisions of the committee will be passed by an ordinary
majority.

Within seven days of its establishment the committee should
submit to the National Assembly the rules of discussing and
adoption of the bill. It is to work until the adoption/rejection
of the bill.

Without any exception, all parliamentary groups declared they
will participate in the work of the committee.

Danail Kirilov is the second GERB representative in the
committee. The Bulgarian Socialist Party will be represented by
Maya Manolova and Chavdar Geogiev. On Wednesday the socialists
refused GERBТs proposal that a representative of theirs, Yanaki
Stoilov, head the committee. MRF will be represented by Chetin
Kazak and Hamid Hamid. In addition to the Deputy Chairman Atanas
Atanassov, the Reformist Bloc will be represented by Dimiter
Delchev. The Patriotic Front will be represented by Hristian
Mitev and Emil Dimitrov and ABV - by Luchezar Nikiformov and
Kiril Tsotchev. The BDC parliamentary group nominated Krassimira
Kovachka and National Assembly Deputy Chairman Yavor Haitov abd
Ataka is to announce its representatives later.

At the beginning of the debate National Assembly Chair Tsetska
Tsacheva explained that the idea for parity participation
emerged as a result of trying to find the broadest possible
participation of the political forces in the work of the
committee, as the incumbent are aware that it is impossible to
achieve the wanted changes without the support and the
cooperation of the other parliamentary forces, regardless of the
fact whether they are in opposition or part of the ruling
majority.