site.btaParliament Slashes Party Subsidies to One Lev per Vote, Local Elections in Focus of Debate

112 POLITICS - PARTIES - SUBSIDIES - VOTE amplified 2

Parliament Slashes Party Subsidies to One Lev per Vote,
Local Elections in Focus
of Debate


Sofia, July 4 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Parliament Thursday slashed the state subsidy for political parties from 11 leva to 1 lev per valid vote won at the latest parliamentary elections, as proposed by the government. This was done at the second reading of amendments to the 2019 State Budget Act by a vote of 119 in favour (GERB, Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Ataka and Volya) and 71 against (Bulgarian Socialist Party), with 16 abstentions (NFSB and VMRO).

Ataka, NFSB and VMRO are members of the power-sharing United Patriots coalition.

The State Budget Act amendments, which entail revisions to the Political Parties Act, further stipulate that political parties will be able to receive donations not only from natural persons but also from juristic persons and sole traders. This gives the parties an additional opportunity to raise funding for their activities, making up for the reduction of the subsidies.

Political parties may not receive donations from juristic persons or sole traders who have overdue public liabilities and/or are registered in jurisdictions with a preferential tax regime, the MPs resolved. As for donations from natural persons, the lawmakers scrapped the 10,000 leva ceiling on donations made by one individual within one calendar year.

During the debate the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) parliamentary group accused the incumbents of trying to liquidate the opposition ahead of the local elections this autumn.

Besides the one-vote-one-lev subsidy proposal, supported by GERB and Ataka, the debate also encompassed two proposals made, respectively, by VMRO and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF): for a 1.5-million-leva annual subsidy for parliamentary activity, and for zero subsidies. Both were voted down.

Parliament also voted down the BSP's proposal that parties return to the budget the unused portion of their state subsidy as at June 3, 2019. Earlier in the week it transpired that the BSP had spent its entire subsidy.

Kroum Zarkov (BSP for Bulgaria) said the incumbents are trying to avoid the real problems such as those highlighted by public protests against high fuel prices, nurses' protests, and the discontent concerning the Black Sea Coast Development Act.

Ivan Ivanov (BSP for Bulgaria) commented that in the run-up to the local elections, the power-holders want to "destroy the opposition and make sure it does not exist anymore."

MRF Chair Mustafa Karadayi noted that all parties were talking about slashing subsidies but had not proposed any alternatives for transparent funding of their activities and their election campaigns. According to Karadayi, 1 lev per vote would not ensure transparent funding. Therefore, he said, the MRF proposes zero subsidies and transparent funding through donations from natural and juristic persons.

Ataka Chair Volen Siderov recalled that Bulgarians voted in favour of the one-vote-one-lev rule in a 2016 referendum. (The referendum results were not binding because of insufficient voter turnout). If the parties want higher subsidies, they should earn them, Siderov suggested. Ataka's seven MPs will vote in favour of GERB's proposal for 1 lev per vote, he added.

Yulian Angelov (VMRO) warned that a subsidy of 1 lev per vote will hold the parties hostage to business interests and oligarchs. He called on the MPs to support his party's proposal for an annual subsidy of 1.5 million leva for parliamentary activity.

Kroum Zarkov responded that BSP for Bulgaria will not back a motion which implies that there is no politics beyond the parliamentary parties. The parties outside the National Assembly also deserve funding, Zarkov argued. (The state subsidies are available to parties which have won at least 1 per cent of the votes at the latest parliamentary elections. This means that some of the parties which did not reach the 4 per cent threshold for entry to the National Assembly are also subsidized by the state.)

GERB members commented that the BSP has gone bankrupt, and recalled that GERB has run in elections without any subsidy.

Georgi Svilenski (BSP for Bulgaria) argued that a party cannot go bankrupt because it is not a commercial corporation. "What holds us together is our ideas and principles. Ideas cannot go bankrupt," Svilenski stated.

The MPs have been debating the amendments to the 2019 State Budget Act relating to party financing for more than five hours now. Thursday's sitting will continue until they are adopted conclusively. LN/VE/DD