site.btaInterior Minister Resigns after Failed Proposal to Replace Ministry's Chief Secretary

Interior Minister Resigns after Failed Proposal to Replace Ministry's Chief Secretary


Sofia, March 4 (BTA) - Interior Minister Vesselin Vouchkov
resigned on Wednesday after his proposal to replace the Chief
Secretary of the Interior Ministry was apparently rejected by
Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. Opposition members described the
resignation as a sign of instability in the government, but the
incumbents denied the claim.

Vouchkov's reason to push for the replacement of Interior
Ministry Chief Secretary Svetoslav Lazarov was that the new
Interior Ministry Act has set new requirements for holders of
the office, which Lazarov does not meet. Vouchkov said he was
resigning because he did not accept a position paper by the
Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of Ministers regarding
the next steps in implementing the new Interior Ministry Act
vis-а-vis the Chief Secretary, said Deputy Prime Minister for
Coalition Policy and Public Administration Roumyana Buchvarova,
speaking to journalists.

Buchvarova said the resignation came as a surprise. According to
 her, Vouchkov's withdrawal will not alter the ratio of
allocation of the cabinet seats among the parties in the ruling
coalition.

Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Floor Leader of the ruling GERB party, said
he was "surprised but not really disappointed" at Vouchkov's
resignation. Tsvetanov does not see any signs of instability in
the government. It was a mere coincidence that the resignation
came on the day when FBI Director James B. Comey was visiting
Bulgaria, Tsvetanov said.

"The resignation of Interior Minister Vesselin Vouchkov shows
that the government of Boyko Borissov is extremely unstable,"
BSP-Left Bulgaria Deputy Floor Leader Atanas Merdjanov said.
"The fact that one of the hard-power ministers resigned at such
a crucial moment for the country indicates instability,"
Merdjanov said. He sees many insurmountable problems in the
ruling coalition.

Movement for Rights and Freedoms Chairman Lyutvi Mestan said
Vouchkov's withdrawal is apparently an internal problem of the
cabinet.