site.btaContinue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria Offer Governance Memorandum to GERB-UDF

Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) are offering their coalition partners from GERB-UDF a memorandum with the main goals of the government in the next nine months, Kiril Petkov, co-chairman of Continue the Change, told journalists after a meeting of the parliamentary group of CC-DB.

Petkov said that one of the important items in this memorandum are the regulators, where the CC-DB and GERB-UDF should have equal quotas. Petkov specified that the document will be signed by the political leaders, and by Mariya Gabriel and Nikolay Denkov.

CC-DB suggested that if the two power-sharing coalitions fail to reach an agreement, early parliamentary elections should held simultaneously with the European elections.

The document contains the vision of the CC-DB for the state priorities by the end of 2024.

The draft of the memorandum was sent to GERB-UDF and Mariya Gabriel has it, said DB co-leader Atanas Atanasov.

What's in the memorandum

CC-DB call the memorandum a proposal for "a clear negotiating framework to GERB-UDF for the rotation on March 6, 2024". 

It is titled "Memorandum on continuing reforms for effective governance, justice, fight against corruption and security in March 2024 - December 2024", and contains the vision of CC-DB on the priorities of the State until the end of 2024. 

It says that "the parties view the reforms set out in this Memorandum as fundamental to the realization of all other Government and majority objectives, including the key foreign policy priorities for the next 9-month period: continuing Bulgaria's European development and Euro-Atlantic course; and the country's entry into the eurozone and full Schengen integration.

In the proposal, GERB-UDF and CC-DB "declare that the key conditions for continuing to share responsibility for the rotation formula in the second stage [after March 6, 2024] are:

● implementation of effective governance reforms, 

● continuing reforms in the justice sector, fighting corruption, and 

● strengthening the security services and security systems.

The memorandum proposes a public timetable for the filling of the regulators as the parties agree to be politically accountable for their nominations.

The nominations for the regulators will be made by as wide a range of stakeholders as possible, including civil society organizations specializing in the relevant field, to be endorsed by MPs, and that a check on the integrity and moral qualities of the nominees would be carried out under conditions of enhanced publicity. Candidates with strong political affiliations will be excluded.

The number of candidates elected will be equally distributed between CC-DB and GERB-UDF. If either of the two groups wishes to propose a candidate from another parliamentary party, this candidate shall be counted as a nomination of the respective group making the nomination and no change in the ratio between them shall take place.

The document describes in detail the objectives of reforms in a number of areas such as the judiciary, the election of the members of the anti-corruption commission, the security services, measures to increase confidence in the electoral process, and further reforms in e-government.

A special chapter of the memorandum sets out additional measures to be taken in the wake of exposure of undue dependencies in the judiciary (The Notary Case), including legislative changes introducing an opportunity for limited disclosure of relevant elements of investigative secrecy when there is a prevailing public interest.