site.btaParliament's Presiding Body Is Meeting, Said Assen Vassilev of CC-DB

There will be two meetings in Parliament Tuesday: a meeting of the Presiding Body and then another one of the parliamentary groups minus Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) floor leader Delyan Peevski, Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) co-leader Assen Vassilev told the press on his way into Parliament. He said CC-DB is going to the meeting of the Presiding Body "but if Peevski is attending, there is no place for us there because he is the crux of the problem".

The meetings are being held a day after President Rumen Radev refused to decree the appointment of a caretaker cabinet with Kalin Stoyanov as Interior Minister

Vassilev said that CC-DB will propose that "we proceed according to the law, we have office holders with expired terms in office".

He was referring to the two vice presidents of the National Audit Office whose term in office has ling expired and new vice presidents need to be elected by Parliament. They are in the pool of senior office holders who can be picked as caretaker Prime Minister after the 2023 revisions to the Constitution. The pool also includes the National Audit Office President, the National Ombudsman and their deputy, the Parliament Chair and the Governor and Vice Governors of the central bank. 

The position of National Ombudsman has been vacant, the deputy ombudsman recently resigned, the central bank said that the European Central Bank rules do not allow the governor to become caretaker Prime Minister - and the two National Audit Office vice presidents are with expired terms in office.

According to Vassilev, "the most standard outcome is via filling the positions with the expired term". 

He said that when Parliament elects the office holders in the pool of potential caretaker government leaders, they should be asked if they are ready to become caretaker Prime Minister.

CC-DB believes that the MPs must cut short their summer recess and get back to work.

Vassilev said he was happy that GERB leader Boyko Borissov has joined those calling for keeping Kalin Stoyanov away from the Interior Ministry in the next caretaker cabinet.