site.btaParliament Back to Work After Easter Recess, Groups Reiterate Priorities and Ambitions

Sofia, April 18 (BTA) - Beginning Wednesday, Parliament is back to work after its Easter recess. All parliamentary groups read statements to reiterate their top priorities and ambitions.

The floor leader of the ruling GERB party, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, grabbed the opportunity to slam President Rumen Radev for criticizing the government, in a recent address to university students, for lack of transparency and corruption.

Picking up the President's metaphor about having to "turn the floodlight towards what is happening" [because the government keep things in the dark], Tsvetanov said that the floodlights have long been turned on. "Demanding more light and transparency at a time when this country is in the limelight of the European institutions and leaders, is political inadequacy," Tsvetanov said. He urged the President to open his eyes to what is plain to see for everybody else: that Bulgaria is headed in the right direction, that the state institutions are working to regain people's confidence with their deeds "rather than with destructive insinuations".

The GERB floor leader voiced fear that the ambitions of the President and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), which nominated Radev for President in the 2017 elections, might threaten Bulgaria's future as part of united Europe and NATO, and the future of the Western Balkans to be "with us".

Tsvetanov lashed out at the entire opposition and BSP in particular for fear-mongering (about the possibility for Bulgaria to be inundated by migrants and the risk for separation of Kurdjali Region) and for their attempts to dig mud on the country while it is holding the EU Presidency.

Next Tsvetanov turned to the power-sharing United Patriots and thanked them for their partnership and understanding on matters of importance for the country.

He said the government must serve out its four-year term.

Tsvetanov gave a high mark to the work of the parliamentary majority and said that the past session saw lots of efforts to establish Bulgaria as a factor of stability in the Balkans.

He said the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council has so far been successful but the biggest success was certainly a EU-Turkey leaders' meeting held on Bulgaria's initiative in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna.

He said further that creating conditions for economic development remains a topmost priority for the government and the majority. He said that the combat against contraband trade and serious crime will provide resources for investment in education and recalled that the 2018 budget has a half-billion leva more for improving education.

United Patriots vow to broaden justifiable self-defence

The United Patriots went straight to their legislative priority. Number one on the list read out by MP Iskren Vesselinov was revisions to the Criminal Code to broaden the definition of justifiable self-defence. He said that his party will prepare revisions this parliamentary session after the Justice Ministry refused to do it.

Other legislative proposals the United Patriots are working on include a bill on the Bulgarian language, on incomes, for a reform of disability assessment and against red tape, among others.

Vesselinov said that the past political season was successful and that the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council is "brilliant".

He said the government gets credit "for proving that patriotism is not a stigmatized ideology but one which has caused cracks in the liberal establishment which has brought many troubles to Europe".

Vesselinov catalogued as accomplishments for the government the ratification of the good-neighbourliness treaty with Macedonia and the recognition of a Bulgarian minority in Albania. "It is the first time that the Bulgarian State raises systematically the Bulgarian national question," he said.

He argued that the Bulgarian position on the Skripal case [deciding against expelling Russian diplomats and only summoning the Bulgarian Ambassador briefly for consultations in Sofia] is just another example of how Bulgaria is now capable of pursuing an independent policy guided solely by the national interests.

The United Patriots further claim credit for halting the ratification of the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. Vesselinov said that this "victory of common sense has proven contagious and more countries in Europe decided against ratifying the document".

He said that the United Patriots are the exact opposite of MRF, DOST and "all other parties which are undermining the nation".

BSP to move for stripping MPs of all privilege

BSP for Bulgaria floor leader Kornelia Ninova said her group will move for changes in Parliament's rule of procedure to strip the MPs of all privilege. She said that the deputies are wallowing in perks and that while 99 per cent of working Bulgarians "earn a fixed wage, the MPs' wages are raised every time the average wage goes up". "Why should a miner have 30 days of paid leave for his hard work and we have 70!" she added.

She said that the proposal was not populist and only sought to restore justice.

Ninova said that the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU is important for the country - and her party does not need to be reminded of that, but they wish that Parliament be more involved and more often have a chance to debate the issues from the agenda of the Presidency. She urged the Prime Minister to visit Parliament and tell the MPs what progress has been made: not only with respect to the Western Balkans but also the cohesion policy, the budget for the next programming period, the social pillar and social rights.

Being the second one to use the floodlight metaphor, she said that the floodlights are showing Bulgaria to be shrinking by another 400,000 people and becoming "the fastest-vanishing nation in Europe"; to be the most corrupt country holding the EU Presidency; to be Europe's poorest nation.

Ninova urged the MPs to look in the future and pick three problems to start solving. The Socialists suggest economy and production; modern and high-tech education; and a new health model.

The Socialist leader said the single problem which everybody avoids saying out loud is the parallel state: "this is the darkness which President Radev spoke about, where parallel leaders pull the strings of the state".

She said that her party, "together with experts", have done "a serious analysis of which are the key factors standing in the dark and pulling the strings", and found them to be pharmaceutical production and trade, wheat and bread production and trade, and energy production, transmission and distribution. She said that fighting these will be her group's priority in the new parliamentary session. "We are starting this battle with tangible steps, with the names and with bills."

Movement for Rights and Freedoms: support "good decisions" and European values

Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Chairman Mustafa Karadayi urged for consensus for quick solution of the problems of the people, and for Bulgaria being an important factor in the regional, European and global scene. "As a nationally responsible party, the MRF will continue to support any good decision in this direction," Karadayi said.

The MRF leader argued that the vision for governance should include a vision and goal of reforms. "Such an approach requires a new type of governance and a new formula," he said, urging for interaction among the nationally responsible systemic parties, underpinned by clear ideas, principles and European values.

Dwelling on the recent geopolitical developments, Karadayi suggested that the "balanced" foreign policy of the government is actually caution or keeping a low profile. He questioned the adequacy of this policy.

The MRF leader said that Bulgaria should raise the key questions on the EU agenda and work for a Europe of more security, solidarity and stability. He argued that the objective of faster integration in the EU of the Western Balkans should not be implemented only in the form of meetings with the leaders of these countries.

Volya: "the only party taking genuine action in the interest of Bulgarians"

In a boastful address the leader of the Volya party, Vesselin Mareshki, said there are only two true leaders in Bulgaria at present: "Boyko Borissov, the leader of the ruling party, and Vesselin Mareshki, the leader of the alternative". He said Volya is the only alternative to the incumbents, its parliamentary group is one of the few that undertakes genuine action in the interest of Bulgarian people.

"In the past nearly 30 years we have witnessed large-scale corruption in all spheres of government, large-scale poverty plaguing millions of Bulgarians, education and health care in ruins," Mareshki said, noting that this is due to the absence of leadership.

The Volya leader called on the MPs to do something genuine for their constituents and the country so as "to reduce the gap between the complacent political class and ordinary Bulgarian people".