site.btaSocialists Deny Support to New Draft Constitution Proposed by GERB

August 18 (BTA) - The opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) does not support GERB's draft of a new constitution and rejects their invitation to consultations. This position of the Socialists' decision-making Executive Bureau and of the leadership of their BSP for Bulgaria Parliamentary Group was made public at a news conference here on Tuesday by BSP Legal Council Chairman Yanaki Stoilov.

The Socialists came up with their position a day after GERB unveiled their proposal for a new constitution, which they want to be adopted by a Grand National Assembly. The draft provides for changes in the organization of the judiciary, granting the judicial councils of judges and prosecutors the power to initiate legislation and taking away the President's control over the appointment of the Prosecutor General and the Presidents of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Supreme Court of Cassation.

The BSP are happy with the existing Constitution and argue that the problems are with its enforcement rather than with its content. They called on parliamentarians and the general public to oppose adamantly what Stoilov described as "an attempt to supplant the Constitution, made in a Parliament which is increasingly unrepresentative and serves a worn-out government".

According to the Socialists, GERB leader and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov is gambling away one the few achievements of the past decades, the Constitution, as he tries yet again to stay in power. "The idea of the initiative is to deflect attention from the pressing problems which are baffling the government," Stoilov said. "The so-called 'restart of the political model' seeks to perpetuate a legitimation of the abuses and injustices of the formal government and the deep state which stifle individual development and the prosperity of the nation," he added.

"Since they do not abide by the existing Constitution, the powerholders want to have a new one, tailored to their behaviour," Stoilov pointed out. "Worse yet, relegating the chapter on fundamental rights to the end of the proposed draft is indicative of the powerholders' intention to curtail these rights in future. The necessary changes in the judiciary cannot be an excuse for the move taken by the powerholders," the BSP position states.

The Socialists call on all state institutions to stick to their constitutional and legal powers for the protection of civil peace and prioritize the organization of free and fair parliamentary elections.

In conclusion, the BSP urges citizens to join the peaceful protests in even larger numbers and prevent an encroachment on constitutionalism and the adoption of a resolution on Grand National Assembly elections under the present circumstances. RI/LN
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