site.btaPresident Radev: "Road to Constitutional Changes Passes through Cabinet's, Prosecutor General's Instant Resignation, Parliament's Self-Dissolution and Early Elections"

ESD 17:10:32 22-08-2020
LG1721ES.105
105 POLITICS - PRESIDENT - REMARKS

President Radev: "Road to Constitutional Changes
Passes through Cabinet's, Prosecutor General's Instant Resignation,
Parliament's Self-Dissolution and Early Elections"


Sofia, August 22 (BTA) - "The road to constitutional changes is passing through the immediate resignation of the Government and of the Prosecutor General, a self-dissolution of Parliament and early [parliamentary] elections," Bulgarian President Rumen Radev told journalists on Saturday.

He reiterated his position that the powerholders-proposed draft of a new constitution merely seeks to buy them time and cement the status quo. In the President's words, "the mafia is trying to get Bulgaria into a dead-end track, it is trying to conceal corruption, drawers, recordings, lawlessness and racketeering behind the incompetent babble about a new constitution". Radev was apparently referring to pictures of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's bedside table drawers stuffed with wads of 500 euro banknotes and gold bars and discrediting voice recordings which have been leaked to the media over the last couple of months.

"The present Parliament has lost its credibility, legitimacy and dignity," the head of State argued. "Parties switch their positions in the space of 24 hours," he said, referring to a change of heart by the Volya Parliamentary Group, which initially opposed the GERB-proposed constitutional changes, then indicated that it would support them, and then backed down yet again. According to Radev, the only right solution for this National Assembly is to dissolve itself.

He again called on people to steer clear of Borissov's new constitution pitfall. "It's all about gaining time and Borissov getting away with murder," the President said.

Radev joined a couple of thousand Bulgarians who organized themselves on social media and climbed the 894 steps to the Monument to Liberty on Mt Shipka (Central Balkan Range) on Saturday to commemorate the 143rd anniversary of a decisive battle in the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War in which 7,500 Bulgarian volunteers and Russian soldiers held the pass against a 30,000-strong Turkish army. The celebrators defied an order by Gabrovo Regional Governor Nevena Petkova that cancelled the formal observances due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Approached for comment on the called-off ceremonies, the President said that these celebrations have always taken place under the auspices of the head of State, and they are organized as an entirely non-partisan civic initiative. He argued that the powerholders repeated the March 3 scenario, pursuing the same goal: to prevent the President from ascending Mt Shipka and speak. "If they were so much concerned about public health, the authorities should not have allowed the massive party gathering a couple of weeks ago," Radev insisted, referring to a meeting of the GERB party elite in Sofia on August 5.

"The celebrations on Mt Shipka are a century-old tradition. Somebody obviously likes to ban the assembly of free people. But this cannot work. Every Bulgarian citizen has the right to express their free will and honour this occasion," Radev added. LN/LG