site.btaParliament Rejects High-Level Countercorruption Bill on First Reading

Parliament Rejects High-Level Countercorruption Bill on First Reading

Sofia, September 3 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Parliament Thursday rejected on first reading a Government-sponsored Bill on the Prevention of Corruption of Senior Public Officials. The vote was 101 in favour (GERB and the Reformist Bloc), 38 against (BSP-Left Bulgaria), and 72 abstentions (Patriotic Front, ABV, Movement for Rights and Freedoms, and Ataka). Five MPs of the Bulgarian Democratic Centre abstained, and two voted against.

Addressing the legislature, Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva said she had tabled the bill on behalf of the Council of Ministers and, in her opinion, it is a good bill. "If you want to make it perfect, I wish you success, I will work together with you," she told the MPs before the draft legislation was put to the vote. "Today the Bulgarian Parliament did not demonstrate a will to combat corruption," Kuneva commented after the bill was rejected. She reiterated that she sets absolute priority on countercorruption.

"Corruption is a very grave problem in Bulgaria, it cannot be cured by incantations and herbs but requires surgery," the Deputy PM said. She argued that this bill provides precisely for such kind of intervention. "Evidently, it scared a large part of the MPs by the consequences it may have for their own interests, for the interests of people whom they shield," Kuneva pointed out. She thanked the GERB and Reformist Bloc parliamentary groups for the support and recalled that the bill was subjected to a debate at four parliamentary committees.

GERB

Metodi Andreev MP of GERB said before the vote that the law is radical. "It is supposed to instill fear in people wishing to trespass on public funds," he pointed out, explaining that this is its preventive function. Andreev said there are certain things in the bill which he does not like because they are not radical enough. According to Andreev, the Director of the National Corruption Prevention Office must be elected by Parliament and should undergo an integrity test. "We will back this law because this is our political will," the MP said.

BSP

Before the draft legislation was put to the vote, Mihail Mikov MP of BSP-Left Bulgaria said there are no serious arguments in support it. He sees the purpose of the bill in "reporting to our partners a large amount of political will." "In a country where the rule of law does not enjoy respect, any laws whatsoever are pointless because they are not implemented," Mikov argued.

After the bill was defeated, Krassimir Yankov MP of BSP-Left Bulgaria expressed satisfaction with "the reason shown by the majority of MPs." He described the bill as "an emanation of arrogant potentates". "The incumbents tried to subjugate all institutions to [Prime Minister] Boyko Borissov," Yankov commented.

MRF

Mustafa Karadayi MP of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) pointed out that the bill creates conditions for repression, political lynching and extortion of the politically awkward. "This bill legitimizes and facilitates the Zlatanov model and creates additional conditions for corruption," Karadayi said, referring to the Conflict of Interest Commission's former chairman Filip Zlatanov, whose notepad has been notoriously disclosed to contain instructions apparently received from senior public officials on how to manipulate particular conflict-of-interest cases. "The MRF oppose the option to consider anonymous corruption alerts," the MP added in a speech before the vote was taken.

After the rejection, MRF leader Lyutvi Mestan commented to journalists that the vote "confirmed absolutely categorically that this Cabinet's stability is wishful thinking, a dream of the ruling coalition's leaders, but the reality is rather different." Mestan pointed out that the four parties backing the Cabinet cannot achieve ideological compatibility.

Patriotic Front

According to Valentin Nikolov of the Patriotic Front, there are irregularities which should have been sorted out before the bill was laid before Parliament. He said that his parliamentary group will abstain in the vote.

ABV

Declaring his parliamentary group's intention to abstain, Svetoslav Belemezov MP of ABV said that the appointment of the National Corruption Prevention Office by the Prime Minister and its endorsement by a presidential decree does not guarantee that the Office would be equidistant from all institutions. He pointed out that the bill is not in a position to cope with the problems.

Ataka

Volen Siderov MP of Ataka argued that "a new Gestapo is in the works". He described the bill as "inept". "Meglena Kuneva must not be part of the Bulgarian government," the nationalists' leader said and urged the Reformists to start their investigations from her. "When Kuneva proves the origin of her assets, she can propose bills," he pointed out during the pre-vote debate.

Reformist Bloc

Radan Kanev MP of the Reformist Bloc said that Siderov's tone was "inadmissible". "Let's not hide our fear of an investigation of corruption, of our own property status and business connections, behind personal insults," he insisted.

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Article 79 of the Rules of Organization and Procedure of the National Assembly: "A bill rejected at first reading may be resubmitted only after substantial amendments have been made to its main provisions, which shall be reflected in the explanatory memorandum thereto, and not earlier than three months after its rejection."