site.btaParliament Postpones Discussion on Referendums Law; Parties Issue Declarations on Greek Referendum

Parliament Postpones Discussion on Referendums Law; Parties Issue Declarations on Greek Referendum

Sofia, July 8 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Parliament on Wednesday
postponed a second-reading discussion on proposed amendments to
the referendums law by moving them from item 3 to item 19 on the
 legislature's weekly agenda. The postponement came after
parliamentary groups issued declarations on the July 5
referendum in Greece and after Movement for Rights and Freedoms
(MRF) Chairman Lyutvi Mestan asked for a delay of the amendments
 to the referendums law (formally: Citizens' Direct
Participation in Central Government and Local Self-Government
Act).

MOVEMENT FOR RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

MRF Chairman Lyutvi Mestan warned of a conspiracy to install a
one-party government system in Bulgaria by changing election
rules. Reading a declaration on behalf of his parliamentary
group, Mestan said that a planned referendum on election rules
is aimed to introduce a dual pattern of proportional
representation and majority voting in order to change the system
 of government. There is a push to lower the referendum validity
 standard in order to force Parliament to adopt the dual
pattern. As a result of that, Bulgaria will be ruled by
successive one-party governments which will likely be
authoritarian governments as the Interior Ministry becomes "both
 the face and the soul of the modern Bulgarian state," Mestan
said.

According to him, the Greek referendum showed that it is good to
 hold referendums more often, not on expert issues but on
value-related matters, which can improve the representative form
 of government. But when the authorities of an EU member state
resort to a referendum in order to shift their responsibility
onto the people, this is bad for the country and the EU, Mestan
argued.

BSP-LEFT BULGARIA

"Direct democracy is necessary if it encourages citizens to
become involved in politics, but not if it is used as a means to
 erode government institutions," Yanaki Stoilov (BSP-Left
Bulgaria) said in a declaration.

Stoilov said the people want to have a say mainly in economic
and social matters, not just in matters relevant to the
political system or the election rules. Citizens need to be sure
 that when civil servants make unlawful decisions or decisions
which are detrimental to the national interests, someone will
bear the responsibility, he said.

Commenting on the Greek referendum, Stoilov said the vast
majority of Greek citizens decided to take their country's fate
in their own hands. "These people were strong enough to resist a
 neo-liberal policy which has been pursued for a long time and
which is governed by the interests of large financial
institutions that have been debilitating the country's economy
by a series of loans," he said.

REFORMIST BLOC

While the Greek referendum expressed the will of the people, it
did not offer a solution to the Greek crisis and did not address
 the general instability in Southern and Southeastern Europe,
Reformist Bloc Co-Floor Leader Radan Kanev said.

The interests of those EU member states which do not belong to
the euro area should also be defended during the negotiations
with Greece, because these countries are not directly protected
by the European Central Bank and are exposed to the economic
consequences of the Greek crisis, Kanev said. He called for the
creation of an early warning system to help small and
medium-sized enterprises which maintain trade relations with
Greece. VI/VE