site.bta Council for Electronic Media to Strengthen Monitoring on Pre-election Reflection Day

ESD 13:03:30 02-09-2014
ZH1303ES.111
111 POLITICS-UPCOMING ELECTIONS-MEETING

Council for Electronic Media to
Strengthen Monitoring on
Pre-election Reflection Day

Sofia, September 2 (BTA) - The Council for Electronic Media
(CEM) will strengthen the monitoring performed by it on
reflection day before the October 5 early parliamentary
elections, CEM member Maria Stoyanova said after a meeting
Tuesday between CEM representatives and Prime Minister Georgi
Bliznashki. Stoyanova said CEM will sanction anyone who on
reflection day is "is tempted to violate people's right to being
left alone with their thoughts". In her words, party
televisions present a particular challenge. Stoyanova said that
these media a being monitored for proper conduct.

Stoyanova said that the so-called Konstinbrod case which broke
out on
reflection day before the May 12, 2013 early parliamentary
elections, when a batch of 350,000 excess ballot papers were
found in a printing house in Kostinbrod (near Sofia). "has left
a deep trail and lessons for the institutions and society". The
case sparked recriminations among the leading political parties.
Former government chief secretary Rosen Zhelyazkov was charged

with malfeasance in office for failing to exercise adequate
control over the amount of the ballots printed by the contractor
and the handling of any discards in the printing process.

CEM Deputy Chairperson Maria Moussorlieva said that by law, CEM
only identifies violations, while the respective regional
governor sanctions offenders. Moussorlieva said that the
participants in the meeting mapped out measures to "close the
circuit and make it complete" so that offenders get punished. VI
/ZH/