site.bta National Assembly Elects Roumyana Buchvarova Interior Minister

National Assembly Elects Roumyana Buchvarova Interior Minister

Sofia, March 11 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Parliament Wednesday elected
Roumyana Buchvarova Minister of Interior. The vote was 139 in
favour (GERB, the Reformist Bloc, the Patriotic Front, the
Bulgarian Democratic Centre and ABV), 68 against (BSP-Left
Bulgaria and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms), and one
abstention. Ataka stood out of the vote. The National Assembly
relieved Vesselin Vouchkov of his responsibilities as interior
minister. He resigned on March 4.

This is the first change in the second cabinet of Prime Minister
 Boyko Borissov since it took office four months ago. Borissov's
 first stint as Prime Minister was between 2009 and 2013.

Vouchkov decided to step down as Interior Minister after
Borissov resisted his push to replace Interior Ministry Chief
Secretary Svetoslav Lazarov. Vouchkov wanted Lazarov replaced
because he did not meet the requirements for holders of his
office established by the new Interior Ministry Act. Eventually
Lazarov resigned. Meanwhile, State Agency for National Security
Chairman Vladimir Pissanchev also resigned, and Defence
Information Service Director Vesselin Ivanov was removed from
office.

The Prime Minister and members of his cabinet were in the
debating chamber of Parliament during the debate on the Interior
 Minister's replacement.

The parliamentary group of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms
walked out of the chamber after Patriotic Front Floor Leader
Valeri Simeonov made a statement which offended them. They later
 returned to take part in the vote.

Vouchkov told the lawmakers that there is nothing mysterious
about his resignation because his motivation was of
"substantive" nature." The MPs suspected that Vouchkov had been
pressured by the ruling GERB party or the Reformist Bloc (a
member of the ruling coalition) to replace special services
leaders.

BSP-Left Bulgaria said they were opposed to Buchvarova's
election as Interior Minister. The group's Deputy Floor Leader
Atanas Merdjanov insisted that the real reasons for Vouchkov's
resignation "at such an inappropriate moment" should be
disclosed.

ABV expressed their optimism about Buchvarova serving as
Interior Minister. The party's Svetoslav Belmezov said he hopes
that Buchvarova will show firmness and consistency in running
the Interior Ministry, maintain a balance between all interested
 parties, and achieve good results in crime prevention and
clearance.