site.btaThere Is Such a People MPs Say Contesting Constitutional Court Judges' Election "Logical"

It was logical that President Rumen Radev would challenge the constitutionality of the election of two Constitutional Court judges, Stanislav Balabanov, Secretary of the There Is Such a People parliamentary group, told BTA on Tuesday.

Parliament elected Desislava Atanasova and Borislav Belazelkov as Constitutional Court judges on January 19. The parliamentary resolutions on their election explicitly mention that they will serve standard nine-year terms instead of seven years as ruled by the Constitutional Court, which was acting on a petition from the President. The ruling became effective on January 20. 

Balabanov said the Constitutional Court could revoke Parliament's resolutions on the election of the two judges, which "seem unconstitutional anyway". "Both of them are not legitimate members of that Court because there are serious doubts about their moral principles. One is a professional, a judge, but with a questionable background in the past for many reasons. The other is a political button that will be pushed constantly and will not be able to make independent decisions," the MP said, referring to Belazelkov and Atanasova respectively.

Balabanov said he hoped that the Constitutional Court would "first declare unconstitutional the amendments to the Constitution because they are harmful," and second, that it would act according to the law and "if there are objective circumstances regarding the two nominees, the Court will stop them".