site.btaParliament Passes Single Bill Amending Election Code on First Reading

Parliament Passes Single Bill Amending Election Code on First Reading

Sofia, June 17 (BTA) - Out of seven bills to amend and supplement the Election Code that have been tabled, Bulgaria's National Assembly Friday rejected six and passed on first reading only the draft legislation moved by a group of GERB MPs headed by Tsvetan Tsvetanov. The vote was 111 in favour, 35 against, and 21 abstentions.

The bill limits the total number of voting sections that can be formed in any foreign country to 35. Forming a voting section abroad will require the submission of applications in advance by not fewer than 60 voters. The new provisions will re-establish the possibility of Bulgarian nationals' organizations proposing the location of voting sections in the relevant place. An amendment to the Territorial Administration Act will lower the threshold for mayoralty status of a settlement from 400 to 350 residents.

MPs of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) described the new amendments as "an outrage and a sin" to democratic Bulgaria. Chetin Kazak argued that the President must veto the bill. Independent MP Lyutvi Mestan called the draft legislation "a new regeneration process," referring to an internationally condemned campaign to assimilate Bulgarian Muslims, launched by the Communist regime in the mid-1980s.

"This bill does not restrict citizens' right to vote," said Dimiter Delchev MP of the Reformist Bloc. In his opinion, if they are willing and well-organized, all Bulgarian citizens abroad could exercise their franchise.

A bill presented by a group of ABV MPs headed by Mariana Todorova provided for the introduction of a uniform criterion for all countries and Bulgarian nationals abroad without restricting the number and location of voting sections. Jurisdiction in election cases would be conferred on the administration courts. The threshold for mayoralty status of a settlement would be lowered to 250 residents.

A bill sponsored by a group of BSP-Left Bulgaria MPs headed by Kornelia Ninova would revise fundamental regulations, such as compulsory voting, the simultaneous conduct of elections and a national referendum, the arrangements and preparation for the elections and the apportionment of responsibilities and obligations between the election commissions and the executive authorities. The bill proposed a repeal of remote electronic voting and a change in the criteria for establishing a mayoralty.

The bills moved by a group of Reformist Bloc MPs headed by Radan Kanev MP and by independent MP Georgi Kadiev envisaged the establishment of a separate constituency for voters abroad in parliamentary elections, so that expatriates could vote for candidate lists and express preferences rather than just for parties and coalitions. Voting sections abroad would be opened automatically depending on voter turnout at previous elections.

A bill submitted by Yavor Haytov of the Bulgarian Democratic Centre - National Union also envisaged the establishment of a separate constituency for expatriate voters. The draft legislation required that the candidates for president and vice president be made public not later than 60 days in advance of polling day.

A bill drafted by Chetin Kazak and Hamid Hamid of the MRF provided for the reinstatement of the rules for forming voting sections abroad that were in force before the latest amendments to the Election Code. A possibility was also provided to canvas in a foreign language, with interpretation into Bulgarian. The bill would scrap the residence qualifications for local elections and elections of Members of the European Parliament.