site.btaPrime Minister Interviewed about Political Developments, Judicial Reform, Law Enforcement

Prime Minister Interviewed about Political Developments, Judicial Reform, Law Enforcement

Sofia, June 8 (BTA) - In a wide-ranging interview with Nova
Television on Monday, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said he will
 not run for president and will not replace cabinet ministers,
predicted positive economic developments, and approved of the
referendum questions proposed by President Rosen Plevneliev.

Borissov said the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) has
helped to shape the current government configuration in which
the GERB party is running the country together with the
Reformist Bloc, ABV and the Patriotic Front. "When Delyan
Peevski quits MRF, the party will become good enough to talk to
for the other parties. When? It is up to MRF," he said.

Reacting to an allegation by Radan Kanev (Reformist Bloc) that
the current prosecutor general was the choice of GERB and MRF,
the Prime Minister said: "We did not elect Sotir Tsatsarov, he
was elected by the Supreme Judicial Council. I do not always
agree with Radan Kanev."

"It is best to elect a new Supreme Judicial Council," Borissov
went on to say. Things will not be OK until the magistrates come
 under the control of the SJC Inspectorate rather than other
government agencies. "It is there that the will for reform
should spring from," he said.

"We might as well replace the Constitution. If they want that, I
 am with them," he said.

Discussing his relationship with controversial banker Tsvetan
Vassilev, Borissov recalled that he talked with the businessman
once in the garage in his (Borissov's) home in Bankya, and
earlier on they met on three more occasions. First, they met to
discuss paving the yard of the French Language School in Sofia;
second, they talked during a meeting with Botev Plovdiv football
 fans; and third, they talked when the banker was introducing
some German investors.

"Corruption comes from two sources: public procurement and
smuggling. The easiest money is from smuggling," Borissov said.

Taking a question about the buying of votes in political
elections, he said the law should be observed and those who buy
or sell votes should be punished.

GERB's mayoral candidates in Bulgaria's four largest cities will
 be the same as last time, he said. "In Sofia, Yordanka
Fandakova has been doing an excellent job as Mayor. In Plovdiv,
the current Mayor Ivan Totev will run for another term. In
Varna, it will be Ivan Portnih again running in the race. And in
 Bourgas, it is Dimiter Nikolov," he said.

Nova Television also asked the Prime Minister to comment on the
channel's recent report about a whole community of pickpockets
in Ignatievo, Varna Region, whose unlawful business supports a
rather lavish lifestyle while, officially, they receive welfare
benefits as socially disadvantaged people. Borissov said this is
 the only case in which people have got rich on pickpocketing.
"I disagree with those who say that we are focusing on their
being Roma. If you just walk around the Sofia neighbourhoods of
Dragalevtsi, Boyana and Simeonovo, you will see mansions owned
by people who pose as socially disadvantaged or have never
worked. In Ignatievo, there are two houses under asset-freeze
orders. I am convinced that this time assets will indeed be
confiscated eventually," the Prime Minister said.