site.btaParliament Passes Conclusively Amendments to Constitution

Parliament Passes Conclusively Amendments to Constitution

Sofia, December 16 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Parliament Wednesday passed conclusively on third reading a Bill to Amend and Supplement the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, moved by National Assembly Chair Tsetska Tsacheva and a group of MPs. The legislature took a roll-call vote, in which 189 MPs voted in favour (GERB, Movement for Rights and Freedoms, most Reformist Bloc MPs, Patriotic Front, Bulgarian Democratic Centre, ABV and Ataka), 39 against (BSP-Left Bulgaria), and one abstained (Korman Ismailov of the Reformist Bloc). Reformist Bloc MPs Radan Kanev, Atanas Atanasov, Peter Slavov, Martin Dimitrov, Grozdan Karadjov and Vili Lilkov stood out of the vote.

Hristo Ivanov resigned as justice minister last Wednesday over a controversial clause in the amendments concerning the distribution of political and professional nominees in the newly established prosecutors chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

GERB

"GERB needs a strong rather than a complex-ridden partner whipping up tensions. GERB and the Reformist Bloc must be strong partners which, together with the parliamentary support of ABV and the Patriotic Front, enable policy making," GERB Floor Leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov said, addressing the plenary sitting.

In his statement, he thanked those Reformist Bloc MPs who backed the constitutional amendments but stressed that it is untenable to contemplate a new cabinet shared between the Reformist Bloc and GERB within the life of the incumbent Parliament. "Why experiment and put ourselves and voters to a test by sending a message about early parliamentary elections?" Tsvetanov asked.

He stressed that the revisions that have been approved came as a result of a wide-ranging compromise that will rally the National Assembly.

Movement for Rights and Freedoms

"We achieved what is possible within the limits of the competence of an ordinary National Assembly. Denying today's achievement is a manifestation of national nihilism which will be damaging to Bulgaria's image," Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) leader Lyutvi Mestan said in a declaration read from the floor.

He emphasized that the Seventh Grand National Assembly [which adopted the original Constitution in 1991] equalized the status of judges, prosecutors and investigating magistrates in respect of immunity, independence and tenure regardless of their different functions and determined that a change of their status has a direct bearing on the principle of separation of powers and that this status cannot be modified by an ordinary National Assembly.

"The principle that the end justifies the means, even when the means are unconstitutional, is Bolshevism, a direct expression of Bolshevism as a way of thinking, which manifests itself in its rightist Bulgarian version," Mestan commented.

"If anybody wants deeper reforms, we must realize that radical reforms are synonymous with the establishment of a new Grand National Assembly," he pointed out.

Democrats for Strong Bulgaria

When the bill was put to the vote, the representatives of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) in the Reformist Bloc, who recently declared that they are going into opposition precisely on account of these amendments as approved by the majority on second reading, did not leave the debating chamber but refused to vote. "We decided to stay out of a deal struck by everybody else to block the changes," DSB leader Radan Kanev explained.

In his opinion, the constitutional amendments as passed benefit Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov, the MRF and GERB.

BSP-Left Bulgaria

Explaining why he voted against, Yanaki Stoilov MP of BSP-Left Bulgaria said that the amendments are not intended to reduce politically dictated court judgments and rulings but to give Bulgarian citizens and the European Commission an impression that something is being done to reform the judicial system. "The voting on these revisions revealed the contradictions between two influential groups in governance and their striving to redistribute political and economic power through the judicial system. In this clash, GERB, the MRF and the Prosecutor General took the upper had of the Reformist Bloc, the Minister of Justice and part of the judges," Stoilov pointed out.

BSP-Left Bulgaria Floor Leader and Bulgarian Socialist Party Chairman Mihail Mikov said in a declaration after the vote that the majority that adopted these constitutional revisions "opted for the road of a compromise with everything and with everybody". "This road will by no means improve the functioning of the judiciary system," he argued. "On second reading, we supported the balanced formation of the quotas in the judiciary, but at the same time we remain pessimistic about the division of the SJC," Mikov said. In his words, this change will lead to an "encapsulation of the system and its isolation from public issues."

He described the protests in front of the Palace of Justice as "absurd". "The deals regarding the vote overruled what was promised to various groups and factions inside the judiciary system," he commented.

In his opinion, the next time when the National Assembly elects its representatives in the SJC, it should consider very carefully whether these should not be people not linked to the judiciary.

ABV

"ABV sees the constitutional amendments that have been adopted as a first step in the judicial reform and renews its proposal for the establishment of a judicial reform council at the National Assembly," ABV Floor Leader Borislav Borissov said.

"ABV categorically opposes the re-politicization in the judicial system," he pointed out. His party hopes that the new justice minister will abandon the previous wrong, cart-before-the-horse approach to the judicial system. "Instead of proceeding from an analysis to an action plan, the first step is amendments to the Constitution which may well be found insufficient, not working or incorrect tomorrow," Borissov said.

Bulgarian Democratic Centre

"The constitutional revisions are a first step towards a genuine and effective reform. A long way of amending the judiciary laws lies ahead in order to build a new and fairer judicial system," Bulgarian Democratic Centre Co-floor Leader Krassimira Kovachka said in a declaration after the vote.

Outgoing Justice Minister Ivanov

"An enormous part of the adopted amendments to the Constitution is a success," outgoing Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov commented in the debating chamber. "This fact cannot be obscured," he added.

"The issue of court independence, however, is fundamental to European civilization, a cornerstone of all European civilization and, in my opinion, Parliament rejected this cornerstone by the distribution of quotas," Ivanov observed.

Reacting to Mestan's statement that nothing reformist has been proposed for a year and a half now, Ivanov said that a comprehensive draft of the Judicial System Act has been prepared and will provide his successor with ample material for work. "I find ridiculous allegations that my work during that year has targeted a personnel change," the Justice Minister said.