site.bta"GERB Parliamentary Group Stands United" - PM Borissov

"GERB Parliamentary Group Stands United" - PM Borissov

Sofia, March 22 (BTA) - After meeting with the GERB Parliamentary Group on Tuesday, the party's leader and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov stated that the group stands very united, stable and committed to everything the Government has been doing and the legislation which should be adopted, including on justice and e-government.

The meeting was requested last week by the GERB MPs, who urged the Prime Minister to dismiss all high-ranking government office holders nominated by Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB). The MPs of GERB also wanted the prosecution service to look into some controversial DSB appointments to important offices. The move came after DSB leader Radan Kanev and the rest of the party's MPs went into opposition but DSB did not leave the Reformist Bloc which, together with GERB, forms the government coalition.

Borissov said: "The coalition will not be reformulated. We discussed serious things, I am not interested in this kind of divorce lawsuits."

Referring to DSB, he added that there was nothing worth commenting against the backdrop of the terror attacks in Brussels and the huge responsibilities of the GERB Party and the Government.

The Prime Minister briefed the MPs on the security measures taken in Bulgaria in the wake of the Brussels attacks, explaining that he was not making them public because "it is best to work more and comment less". "A counterterrorism law must be adopted," he said.

Borissov and GERB Party Deputy Chairman and Floor Leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov called on Bulgarians to exercise maximum vigilance.

According to the Prime Minister, the problem with terrorism cannot be solved entirely, and it was impossible to prevent what happened on Tuesday.

Regarding DSB - the subject that occasioned the meeting with the MPs, the case is closed, as far as GERB is concerned. In this connection, Tsvetanov said that Borissov has ordered a check into his party's alerts, after which he will take the appropriate governance decisions. "After what happened in Europe today, Bulgarian citizens themselves will not forgive us if we busy ourselves with such matters," the Floor Leader said, explaining why the matter was neglected. Tsvetanov assured journalists that the MPs firmly stand behind Borissov. "The actions he will take in the executive branch lie within his competence," he stressed.

Before leaving Parliament, Borissov quipped, asking GERB Deputy Floor Leader Tsveta Karayancheva to give him a call in advance if something crops up and not to take him by surprise. Last week Karayancheva read a strongly worded statement of the Parliamentary Group against DSB's continued power-sharing, calling on the PM to get rid of their appointees. Borissov then described the initiative as "a mutiny on board while the shipmaster is away in Brussels".