site.btaTsveta Karayancheva Remains National Assembly Chair

Sofia, October 15 (BTA) - Tsveta Karayancheva will continue to
hold the position of Chair of the 44th National Assembly, after
MPs rejected a draft decision demanding her early dismissal on
Thursday.  More than three hours of heated debates on the matter
 ended with 126 votes against and 97 votes in favour of sacking
Karayancheva. The draft decision was submitted to Parliament
with the signatures of 96 MPs from BSP for Bulgaria and the
Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF).

GERB and the United Patriots supported Karayancheva and said
they would vote against the proposal. The Bulgarian Socialist
Party MPS and the MRF MPs voted in favour of Karayancheva's
early dismissal.

One of the main reasons stated in the draft decision was Tsveta
Karayancheva inappropriate and unacceptable public behavior,
which  "damages the reputation of the National Assembly."

Other reasons include violation of the principles of publicity
and transparency of the National Assembly, non-fulfillment of 
chairperson duties, obstruction of regular legislative activity
and the conduct of effective parliamentary control.

During the debate, Karayancheva defended herself by saying: "I
am not infallible and I have never claimed that I was; my honor
is not a function of your assessment, it cannot be taken away
from me, least of all by you." RI/DT