site.btaGERB MPs Urge PM to Get Rid of All DSB Appointees in High-Ranking Government Offices

GERB MPs Urge PM to Get Rid of All DSB Appointees in High-Ranking Government Offices

Sofia, March 17 (BTA) - The MPs of GERB urged Prime Minister Boyko Borissov Thursday to get rid of all high-ranking government office holders nominated by Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB). In a statement for the press, GERB deputy floor leader Tsveta Karayancheva said they have invited the Prime Minister to go to Parliament and tell them "how much longer DSB and its leader will remain in power and how much longer he will put up with their lies of being in opposition".

Kanev said in a special statement for the press that this campaign against his party and himself must have been prompted by the DSB calls for investigation of possible links of Bulgartabac cigarette maker with cigarette contraband in Turkey.

GERB's Karayancheva also said that they want the prosecution office to look into some controversial DSB appointments to important offices. Among such appointments Karayancheva mentioned the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Terem arms company, Stoil Yakov, who she alleged to be a personal appointee of Radan Kanev and is responsible for corruption schemes which feed the DSB coffers. She said that Kanev is in a conflict of interest as his law firm has a services contract with Terem worth 2,000 leva a month even though Terem has its own legal department.

Among Kanev's "personal appointees" mentioned by GERB are the financial director of Terem-Naval Arsenal, Toni Todorov, Deputy Interior Minister Tsvyatko Georgiev, almost the whole political cabinet of the Foreign Minister and Deputy Energy Minister Nikolai Nikolov.

Health Minister Peter Moskov and Defence Minister Nickolay Nenchev are mentioned among "Kanev's proteges".

GERB are adamant that the Reformist Bloc should elect a single leader to be responsible for the coalition's vote in the debating chamber and the legislative policy.

In December 2015, after Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov resigned, DSB went into opposition, resenting the speed and depth of the judicial reform carried out by the Government. Kanev was the first DSB deputy to withdraw his support for the Cabinet, and he was followed by the rest of the DSB MPs, but they all remained part of the Reformist Bloc parliamentary group.

Tsveta Karayancheva said that his schizophrenic behaviour of being both in government and in opposition "must be treated and ended".

She said that the GERB deputies will decide whether or not to move for the replacement of the Ministers of Health and of Defence after they hear out the Prime Minister.

She made it clear, though, that GERB does not question the professional qualities of the DSB "appointees".

Commenting the position of the GERB deputies, Reformist Bloc co-leader Nayden Zelenogorski said that there are no personal appointees in the government. "These are RB ministers," he said adding that the RB gives them all a high mark for their work.

He specifically said that the Health and Defence Ministers are doing a great job and have the full support of the RB.

The co-leader of the pro-government Patriotic Front, Valeri Simeonov, said that the calls for replacement of the DSB office holders are "a coordinated campaign which aims to put pressure on the group of Radan Kanev". He, however, agrees that Kanev has a decision to make whether to be in the government or in opposition.

At a news briefing where he only made a statement without taking any questions, Kanev said that if the MPs of the ruling GERB party are unhappy with the personnel policy of the government, they can move for a vote of no-confidence.

He said that "the hysterical news conference" of the GERB deputies was probably due to the declared intention of his party to request an investigation of the ownership of Bulgartabac and the cigarette smuggling rings in Turkey and the Middle East it is allegedly connected to. "I want to assure you that DSB will carry through this political initiative," said the DSB leader.

He also said that the conflict between GERB's group in Parliament and the Prime Minister is none of DSB's problems.

He also said he is not surprised that the GERb deputies see the government offices only as access to privileges.