site.btaBulgarian Socialist Party Petitions Constitutional Court about Procedure of Adoption of 2018 State Budget

Sofia, December 1 (BTA) - The opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) petitions the Constitutional Court about the procedure of adoption of the 2018 state budget, BSP MP Zhelyo Boichev told a briefing in Parliament on Friday. Boichev said that according to the BSP, the procedure was violated and that by petitioning the Constitutional Court, the party "opposes the latest attempt to ignore Parliament".

The 2018 budget was conclusively adopted in the early hours of December 1.

BSP's move to petition the court came after a motion of its MP Vassil Antonov to provide 1.13 million leva in an additional outlay for repair works of the St Alexander Nevsky Catherdal and the Zographu Monastery in Mt Athos had been put to the vote and adopted but nevertheless was not included in the final version of the budget. Antonov argued that this was tantamount to "taking power from the National Assembly" and to trying to make Parliament into a "rubber stamp" of the Finance Minister. Antonov described as "demagoguery" the promise of Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov to find money for the repair works, while Boichev said that Minister Goranov should not impose his opinion on the National Assembly.

Chairperson of the parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance, GERB MP Menda Stoyanova, described BSP's move to petition the court as "wild populism". Stoyanova was adamant the procedure was correctly observed. She said that she was glad the BSP decided to approach the court "so as to be demonstrated that there was nothing anti-constitutional in the manner in which the budget was passed."