site.btaNational Council of Opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party Adopts Vision for Bulgaria Document, Starts Process of Nomination of Runners in European Parliament Elections

105 POLITICS-BSP-FORUM

National Council of Opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party
Adopts Vision for Bulgaria Document, Starts Process of Nomination of Runners in European Parliament Elections


Sofia, January 12 (BTA) - The National Council of the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Saturday held a meeting to discuss and approve BSP's Vision for Bulgaria document about the country's development, BPS said in a press release. The document, which will be officially adopted at a BSP forum on January 26 and will become the party's agenda for the elections for European Parliament and for the local elections, was approved after a three-hour discussion of suggestions about various sector policies which had come from all over the country.

The draft of the Vision for Bulgaria was first presented in late July 2018. Since then, the BSP has held 571 meetings with trade associations, trade unions, supporters, experts and members of the public. A total of 924 suggestions were received for the document, most of which - 130 each - in the area of social policy and in education and science, 107 in the area of regional development, 105 in agriculture and 92 in healthcare.

BSP Deputy Chairperson Denitsa Zlateva told reporters after the end of the meeting of the National Council that nominations for BSP runners in the European Parliament elections will start to be made as of February 1 in the party's primary chapters, who will then need to be approved at party conferences. The candidate who will top BSP's list for the European Parliament elections will be known in mid-March, and the entire list, in April, Zlateva said. Answering a reporter's question, Zlateva said that the BSP will try to win "many more than the current four seats" in the European Parliament.

President of the Party of the European Socialists and head of the delegation of the Bulgarian Socialists in the European Parliament Sergei Stanishev, who attended Saturday's meeting, said that the Bulgarian Socialist MEPs have what to show by way of achievements in their work. Stanishev singled out the recent developments regarding the controversial Mobility Package 1, the renewed position of the European Parliament about the full membership in the border-free Schengen Area of Bulgaria and Romania, and the report regarding the European Labour Authority, which has reached the final phase. According to Stanishev, the fact that the European Parliament's Transport Committee rejected two of the three reports on the Mobility Package gives grounds to insist on postponing the vote on the document. Approached by a reporter, Stanishev said that he does not see a problem if he is not chosen to run in the elections for European Parliament. LY/ZH//