site.btaSocialist Party Representatives Discuss Upcoming National, European Elections with OSCE Mission to Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s National Assembly Deputy Chair Kristian Vigenin, BSP for Bulgaria Deputy Floor Leader Georgi Svilenski, and Socialist MP Maya Dimitrova has met with representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission to this country in connection with the upcoming national and European elections on June 9, the Bulgarian Socialist Party's press centre said on Wednesday.

Vigenin, who is also OSCE Special Representative on Eastern Europe, briefed the international observers on the political situation in Bulgaria, focusing on the recent constitutional amendments and the new procedure for appointing a caretaker prime minister foreseen in them. The revised Constitution empowers the President to choose a caretaker prime minister from among the National Assembly chair, the governor or one of the three deputy governors of the central bank, the president or one of the two vice presidents of the Bulgarian National Audit Office, and the ombudsman or his or her deputy.

The Socialists said that the caretaker cabinet is largely political and is not capable of holding fair elections. They added that concerns about this government’s impartiality were further fueled by the appointment of Dimitar Glavchev, "a former National Assembly Chair of GERB", as a caretaker prime minister, the swift replacement of the caretaker Foreign Minister, who plays a key role in organizing the elections abroad, and the proposal to have GERB deputy leader Daniel Mitov take up the post.

The BSP representatives paid special attention to the problem with vote buying and argued that the incumbent Foreign Affairs Minister shows no willingness to crack down on this malpractice.