site.btaNew Parliament to Hold Its First Sitting on October 27

109 POLITICS - NEW PARLIAMENT - PARTIES - PRESIDENT

New Parliament to Hold Its First Sitting on October 27


Sofia, October 15 (BTA) - President Rosen Plevneliev said on
Wednesday that he will convene the new, 43rd National Assembly
(Parliament) on October 27 for its first sitting. Plevneliev
broke the news after meeting earlier in the day with the eight
parties and coalitions which will be represented in the new
legislature.

Ataka Chairman Volen Siderov walked out of the meeting after the
President allegedly refused to have the event broadcast live by
national media. "I see no point in us getting together without
having the media with us, without transparency, and becoming
involved in some sort of murky talks," Siderov argued. According
to him, President Plevneliev explained his refusal by the need
for balance and calm. Siderov's proposal was not supported by
the other parties, either.

Asked whether he will join the consultations with the election
winner GERB, Siderov said there would be no point in talking
with GERB unless these talks, too, are open to the media.

Before meeting with President Plevneliev, six of the eight
parliamentary parties and coalitions were united in their call
for prompt convocation of the new legislature. These were the
Bulgarian Socialist Party - Left Bulgaria Coalition (BSP-LBC),
the Reformist Bloc, the Patriotic Front, Bulgaria without
Censorship (BwC), Ataka, and ABV, whose representatives spoke
briefly to the media before discussing the constitution of the
new Parliament with the President.

Representatives of the other two parliamentary parties, GERB and
the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), stepped inside the
offices of the President's Administration without comment.

BSP Chairman Mihail Mikov said the legislature has urgent tasks
to perform, such as adopting the 2015 national budget. He said
it is becoming ever more obvious that a coalition between Left
and Right is impossible. "Let them go for a right-wing majority,
so we can move ahead," Mikov reasoned.

Krassimir Karakachanov of the Patriotic Front said that in the
future, the debating chamber of the National Assembly should not
stay virtually empty, as has been the case so many times
before. Asked why the Patriotic Front has been attacking MRF and
whether this could endanger ethnic peace, Karakachanov said:
"When someone says something bad about MRF, the Movement always
reacts by invoking 'ethnic peace.'"

According to Roumen Yonchev of BwC, the pressing issues which
must be addressed by the new Parliament include updating the
2014 national budget and reaching a decision about the ailing
Corporate Commercial Bank - these are matters which, Yonchev
said, do not require a functioning executive government.

ABV Deputy Chairman Roumen Petkov said his party wants the
National Assembly to set up a special committee as soon as
possible in order to review the condition of the energy sector
and explain to the public why pricing in the sector is done the
way it is done. Another parliamentary debate which should be
conducted early on is a debate on election legislation, Petkov
said.