site.btaParliament Approves Rules of Procedure for Electing New Counter-corruption Commission Chairperson

November 6 (BTA) - The National Assembly on Wednesday approved rules of procedure for electing a new chairperson of the Counter-corruption and Unlawfully Acquired Assets Forfeiture Commission (CUAAFC).

The election became necessary after Plamen Georgiev resigned as CUAAFC Chairperson amid a real estate scandal and was later appointed as Bulgarian Consul in Valencia, Spain.

Under the newly approved rules, candidates for the job should submit a declaration of financial interests and a declaration of consent to be checked for possible affiliation with the communist-era political police or military intelligence.

Candidates should also state in writing their consent to be nominated for CUAAFC chairperson. They must have a degree in law and working experience in the field of law.

Within 14 days after the rules are adopted, MPs may nominate candidates for CUAAFC chairperson. The nominations should be submitted to the National Assembly Committee on Anti-corruption, Conflict of Interest and Parliamentary Ethics.

Within seven days after the nominations are made public, the candidates should submit to the National Assembly Anti-corruption Committee a concept paper about their future work as CUAAFC chairperson.

Eligible candidates will have a hearing at an open-door meeting of the National Assembly Anti-corruption Committee, which will be broadcast live via the website of the National Assembly.

The full National Assembly will take a separate vote on each candidate. A candidate must receive more than half of the votes of the MPs present in order to be elected. If more than one candidate gets more than half of the votes, the one who wins the largest number of votes will be considered elected.