site.btaParliament Opens Summer Session

Parliament Opens Summer Session

Sofia, April 22 (BTA) - The National Assembly on Wednesday
opened its summer session with statements by parliamentary
groups outlining their priorities and plans.

GERB

GERB floor leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that GERB will propose
a committee for drafting changes to the Constitution and will
support the government proposals for judicial reform, stability
and sustainability of the state through achieving European
judicial standards. Tsvetanov underscored the importance of
sustainable economic, social and institutional progress as a
prerequisite for political success and voiced GERB's
expectations for parliamentary consensus on key national
priorities.

He pledged lawmakers' support for improving budget revenue
collections rates and measures against the grey economy. Of
social services Tsvetanov said that a strategy for preventative
care is needed. The GERB floor leader said that work will
continue on a package of laws in the security sector, focusing
on petty crime and high-level corruption. Tsvetanov said it was
unacceptable to speak of development and reforms without changes
 to the Water Act which to establish oversight mechanisms and
adequate disaster response.

GERB takes stock of the complex international situation,
Bulgaria's proximity to military conflicts and countries in the
grip of economic and political crises. Tsvetanov underscored an
agreement between all parties for maintaining a high level of
national security and protection of national interests despite
conflicting views on developments between Russia and Ukraine.

Tsvetanov called on the parliamentary parties to refrain from
campaigning for the local elections in Parliament.

BSP-Left Bulgaria

BSP-Left Bulgaria will continue to be a consistent opposition,
with another, left policy needed by Bulgaria and the country's
development, Socialist leader Mihail Mikov said on behalf of his
 parliamentary group. Without a left policy, the demographic
crisis and the exit from the country of the best quality
Bulgarian citizens will continue to lead Bulgaria into a dead
end under the leadership of the present government, he went on
to say. In his words, Parliament's new session carries the load
of Bulgarian citizens' expectations for a better life. In the
previous two sessions, the most repeated word was "reform", to
an extend that people interpret this word as belt-tightening,
limiting of the payments, layoffs and unemployment, Mikov said.

The BSP-Left Bulgaria leader proposed that the so-called working
 poor be exempted from the payment of tax. "Those 10 per cent,
those 36 to 38 leva which you deprived them of this year, should
 be given to them," he added, addressing the power holders.

Bulgaria has serious problems in its international relations,
including with neighbouring Balkan countries, Mikov went on to
say. According to him, the construction of a razor wire fence
along the border with Turkey and the Prime Minister's talks
about Greece put new barriers between Bulgaria and its
neighbours. What this country's neighbours are doing is achieve
unions for a change of the strategic infrastructure routes in
Southeastern Europe, he added. In his words, Bulgaria is
excluded from the talks on this topic and will turn from a
traditional gas transit country because of its geostrategical
location into a small consumer because of its destroyed
industry. BSP-Left Bulgaria will continue to insist on urgent
measures in tourism and agriculture aimed at compensating for
the consequences of the sanctions against the Russian Federation
 and the imposed counter-sanctions, Mikov said.

It is evident that a right-wing policy is being implemented in
healthcare, making it ever more inaccessible and dominated by
the paid trade with human life and health. The Socialists will
firmly oppose this, including in the sphere of education, Mikov
noted.

BSP-Left Bulgaria will also work for a consistent policy in the
legislation limiting monopolies and dominating market positions.

Bulgarian Democratic Centre

Co-floor leader of the Bulgarian Democratic Centre (BDC) Svetlin
 Tanchev said that the ruling coalition has sacrificed its
resolve for reforms in the name of winning the upcoming local
elections. The State does not succeed in solving the problems,
and an ever growing majority of the Bulgarians do not feel the
statehood, he said.

BDC's main priorities in the new session will concern the
incomes of the Bulgarians, reduction the administrative burden
for the business, coping with the inflow of migrants and
drafting a new policy for expatriate Bulgarians. Tanchev said
that the Bulgarian economy needs "healthy protectionism". The
BDC is against introducing mandatory voting and last-minute
amendments to the Election Code.