site.btaMPs Extend Parliament's Time Out of Session for Upcoming Local Elections

MPs extended the time when Parliament will not be sitting due to the upcoming October 29 local elections until November 8 by voting on Thursday with 122 votes in favour and 52 against a draft decision to amend the decision of the National Assembly on the work of Parliament in the months of September - October. 

The draft decision was submitted by Boyko Borissov and Denitsa Sacheva of GERB-UDF, Delyan Peevski (Movement for Rights and Freedoms), Atanas Atanasov and Stoyu Stoev (Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria), and its consideration as an additional item on the agenda for Thursday was proposed by Deputy Parliament Chair Nikola Minchev. 

Initially, MPs decided to meet in extraordinary sessions on the Mondays and Tuesdays before the elections and not to meet in the period October 11-27 because of the local elections. By changing this decision, their break will last until November 8. MPs decided that during the following week - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - or October 2, 3 and 4 will be non-working days, while October 5 and 6, Thursday and Friday, will be working days. Sacheva said that after the next plenary week, MPs will be on a break until November 8, so that the break includes the week following election day October 29. Sacheva pointed to the use of the parliamentary rostrum for election rhetoric as an argument.