site.btaParliamentary Committee Rejects Presidential Veto, Radev Says This Shows Reluctance to Fight Corruption

Sofia, January 10 (BTA) - The Legal Affairs Committee in the National Assembly on Wednesday overturned a presidential veto of provisions in the new Counter-Corruption and Unlawfully Acquired Asset Forfeiture Act. Ten committee members voted against the veto and seven others supported it.

Professor Emilia Droumeva, a legal adviser to President Rumen Radev and a former constitutional judge, told the committee that the reasons for the veto were legal, not political. Droumeva said: "We compared foreign practices and international agreements, and we contrasted the provisions with the Constitution. Everything was done in good faith, for the sake of Bulgaria's progress."

However, Deputy Justice Minister Evgeni Stoyanov argued that the President's reasoning for the veto implies a counter-corruption philosophy which is different from the concept of the parliamentary majority.

Reacting to the decision of the Legal Affairs Committee, President Radev told journalists he was not surprised. Radev said: "All debates on the counter-corruption law, particularly the events earlier today, show that there is indeed no political will for a real, comprehensive, and efficient struggle against corruption. The struggle will obviously continue to be waged by the citizens and the media."

Asked whether he intends to petition the Constitutional Court, Radev said this law will not entail real change towards more efficient suppression of corruption, which is something that the public expects.

Then, Radev took a journalist's question about whether he is worried about the nine protest demonstrations which will meet EU leaders coming to Sofia on Thursday, and whether these protests are a matter of political expediency or are something normal. The President said he is not the one who should worry. He added: "It is normal. Bulgaria is a democratic country. Anyone who has demands is free to express them in a way permitted by the law."

The President also discussed the Istanbul Convention (the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence). He called for a thoroughgoing debate on the Convention before its possible ratification by the National Assembly. He said: "We already have laws protecting the rights of women and children and laws against domestic violence, but we are obviously failing to implement them properly - instead, we are eager to assume international commitments without figuring out what they are really about and without holding a really thoroughgoing debate. This is irresponsible."

He went on to say: "The effort to suppress domestic violence and violence against women must be carried out by the police, by the courts, here and now. In the meantime, we should be clear about what exactly is being signed and ratified, rather than realizing post factum what we have adopted."