site.btaKiril Petkov: Presidential Veto Is "Good News"

Commenting on a presidential veto on revisions to the Criminal Procedure Code that was unveiled earlier on Monday, Continue the Change (CC) Co-leader Kiril Petkov said he was pleased that "after the initial criticism the President has obviously realized the importance of the judicial reform in the Constitution and finds intolerable even the short-term postponement imposed by that law." Petkov sees this as "good news".

The provisions that President Radev vetoed were adopted conclusively on February 1. They extend the operation of the current Supreme Judicial Council and its Plenum until a new Supreme Judicial Council and Supreme Prosecutorial Council are elected as provided for by the revised Constitution even though the latest amendments to the basic law abolished the Plenum. The head of State argued that the relevant revisions to the Criminal Procedure Code in practice "cancelled indefinitely the widely proclaimed justice reform by means of the recent amendments to the Constitution". He described this as "deliberate disregard of the supremacy of the Constitution and its immediate effect." 

"We regard the constitutional amendments as a major victory. That's why we will take another look at the law so as to be sure that we do not defer part of the amendments for too long," Petkov commented on Monday. 

"At first, the President criticized severely the revisions to the Constitution. By this veto he actually emphasizes that these revisions are not just good but must enter into force immediately, which shows a change in his assessment of our work," the CC Co-Chair argued.