site.btaMedia Review: March 20

GERB PM-Designate Mariya Gabriel’s Proposed Government Lineup

The disagreements between GERB-UDF and Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) over GERB Prime Minister-designate Mariya Gabriel’s proposed government lineup were dominating the media on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, GERB-UDF Prime Minister-designate Mariya Gabriel handed President Rumen Radev a proposal for a government lineup. She was mandated to form a government Monday noon. In the afternoon, President Radev signed a decree proposing to the 49th National Assembly to elect Mariya Gabriel, the Prime Minister nominated by the largest parliamentary group, GERB-UDF. Later, CC-DB said that the draft cabinet was not agreed with them, and the nominees for ministers from the party stated that they refused to join this composition of the Council of Ministers. The CC-DB called on the President to withdraw his decree.

On bTV’s morning show, Outgoing Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov commented that GERB-UDF and CC-DB should sit at the negotiation table and finish the negotiations to form a government in a reasonable way. "This is the only option that can lead us positively out of this situation, there is no other positive move," he said, stressing that the leaders of the political forces should participate in the negotiations, as GERB leader Boyko Borissov did not take part in the previous rounds of talks. 

On Nova Television’s morning show, CC-DB Co-Floor Leader Kiril Petkov said that the events from Tuesday were unprecedented. “A hundred people were gathered yesterday - ministers and the whole parliamentary group, and we all could not believe the political fraud that was happening,” Petkov added. According to him, his party proposed nine people for the E-governance Ministry and GERB came up with a tenth option in the proposal. This lineup was not discussed in the 12 days of negotiations, there are people who were not mentioned not even once, he stressed. Petkov argued that Borissov threw Gabriel under the bus, her reputation was destroyed with such a political move, unprecedented in Europe - to propose a cabinet that was not agreed on. "When the mandate comes to us, we will gather all the national councils of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, Yes Bulgaria, Continue the Change and we will not rush, but think. The idea of throwing the country into chaos is the easiest," he noted.

On Bulgarian National Television‘s morning show, DB Co-Chair Hristo Ivanov commented on the statement made by Raya Nazaryan of GERB's negotiating team that the document for the lineup was approved by him. "There is no document that has been signed by both sides," he underlined. "Raya Nazaryan is claiming something she cannot prove. There is no signed agreement with an approved Council of Ministers lineup," he added.  

GERB gave an official briefing in the national assembly. The party’s leader Borissov said that the ministers' declarations refusing to participate in the government presented on Tuesday are in violation of the agreement that these offices will work in rotation for 18 months. "We have a document that says that these ministers will be in their positions for 18 months and can only be replaced by a decision of Denkov and Gabriel, and their memorandum states that they can be replaced only with a veto from both sides," commented Borissov. The GERB leader explained that he does not want to attend a meeting with the leaders of the CC-DB because, in his words, they are behaving badly. The thing that can bring GERB back to negotiations would be an apology, especially to Prime Minister-designate Gabriel, he said. "There is a way back, but it goes through whether Maria Gabriel will accept their apologies, and I will have a difficult conversation with the group to see if they will accept the apologies," Borissov said. "If we don't get an apology, they don't have 69 votes," he stressed. The GERB leader the only dispute the two political forces had regarding the government lineup was about the replacement of outgoing Defence Minister Todor Tagarev. 

On Nova TV, Natalia Kiselova, professor of constitutional law, said that there is only one solution to the situation - Gabriel to step down. „She violated the Constitution because it is not acceptable to propose names of ministers when they have not given their approval,” Kiselova noted. However, she added that that a change of nominees is allowed. 

24 Chasa featured an article covering the list of names from which President Rumen Radev should choose a caretaker prime minister in case no regular government can be formed in the next weeks. The constitutional amendments, adopted late last year, grant the head of State a choice between 10 people – the National Assembly Chair, Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) Governor and Deputy Governor, National Audit Office Chair and Deputy Chair, the Ombudsman or her Deputy, the daily notes. The newspaper highlights that almost all of the people, who are currently occupying those positions, are connected to GERB. Here’s the list, as presented by the media outlet:

National Assembly Chair: Rosen Zhelyazkov. One of the key faces of GERB, proposed by Gabriel as Innovation Minister in her government lineup

BNB Governor: Dimitar Radev. Nominated for the position by GERB and the Reformist Bloc in 2015. Reelected in 2023 as proposed by GERB.

BNB Deputy Governors: Andrey Gyurov (CC), Petar Chobanov (Movement for Rights and Freedoms), Radoslav Milenkov (elected in 2019 during the third Borissov cabinet)

National Audit Office Chair: Dimitar Glavchev. Longtime GERB MP and former National Assembly Chair.

National Audit Office Deputy Chairs: Goritsa Grancharova – Kozharova (working in the institution since 2005), Toshko Todorov (served as National Revenue Agency Deputy Deputy Director General during GERB’s first government)

Ombudsman: Diana Kovatcheva. Not tied to political parties. She is leaving office early after being elected as a Bulgarian judge at the European Court of Human Rights. She will take up his new post in April.

Depity Ombudsman: Elena Cherneva Markova. Not tied to political parties. She will finish Kovatcheva's term in office until the government elects a new Ombudsman.  

Judiciary 

24 Chasa reports that an inquiry into Sofia Regional Prosecution Office has found that some cases were handled in violation of the law. The inquiry, which began on February 9 and was completed on Tuesday, found "systematic violations, unacceptable practices and shortcomings in the allocation and management of files and cases", the daily notes. It was prompted by revelations following the murder of Martin 'The Notary' Bozhanov. He was shot dead in a gated complex in a Sofia suburb on the evening of January 31. Accounts of his business by victims and witnesses portray him as a large-scale fixer of people's problems with the judiciary. He has been implicated in building a network of connections with prosecutors and judges whom he allegedly bribed, threatened, blackmailed or otherwise pressured to treat his "clients" favourably.  

Economy

Telegraph quotes Institute for Analysis and Forecasting of the Information Environment in Tourism Director Rumen Draganov as saying that every day 6,000 Bulgarians purchase travel tours. The daily also quotes National Statistical Institute data which states that Bulgarians spent BGN 3 billion on tourism last year. Travel and holiday websites are full of offers, with many of the deals for the upcoming holidays and summer already sold out, a Telegraph check on online travel websites found out. Bulgaria is among the European Union countries with the largest increase in tourist overnight stays in 2023, the media outlet notes, quoting the Tourism Ministry. Tourist nights spent in the country were just over 27 million, an increase of 11.9% compared to 2022, the daily quotes Eurostat data. The EU average rise was 6.3%.

Trud has a story on garbage fees for citizens in Sofia. A draft ordinance released for public consultation by the Finance Ministry, is set to increase the fees more than 10 times from the beginning of 2025, the daily says, quoting a Sofia Municipality statement. Currently, they are determined on the basis of the tax assessment of the properties. The draft ordinance foresees that from the beginning of 2025 the fee will be determined on the basis of the actual amount of waste disposed of or according to the number of property occupants.