site.btaParliament Refuses to Restore Quick Questions Time with Prime Minister

October 2 (BTA) - The majority in Parliament Wednesday
rejected the revisions to the Rules of Organization and
Procedure of the National Assembly, tabled by the opposition and
 intended to restore the so-called quick questions time with 68
votes "for", 85 "against" and 11 abstentions.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) for Bulgaria proposed that
the prime minister and his/her deputies should be obligated to
go to Parliament at least once a month and answer topical MP
questions, a form of control that existed in the 42nd and the
43rd national assemblies.

The Prime Minister has been in Parliament just several times
since the beginning of the mandate, BSP for Bulgaria Deputy
Floor Leader Kroum Zarkov noted. The view that the Prime
Minister resolves everything is being persistently imposed in
the public domain, while at the same time he is not responsible
for anything before the National Assembly, Zarkov commented.

Krassimir Tsipov of GERB pointed out that from the beginning of
the mandate of the present National Assembly the Prime Minister
has been addressed with 11 interpellations and 26 questions.
Half of them, however, do not correspond to the Rules of
Organization and Procedure. In Tsipov's words, the questions
should be topical and should concern the policies of the
government.

GERB Floor Leader Daniela Daritkova commented that the now
existing rules provide enough opportunities for the Prime
Minister to respond to topical issues at anytime and not
according to a planned monthly schedule.

According to United Patriots Floor Leader Iskren Vesselinov,
quick questions time will not lead any positive results. Volya
leader Vesselin Mareshki, in turn, said that Parliament is
debating matters that are not important, while independent MP
Pavel Shopov said that Ataka supports the reinstatement of quick
 questions time, in order to control the work of the government
and the ministers./RY/BR
 

/МЙ/