site.btaSocialist Deyan Dechev: BSP Set on Removing All Battlefronts and Seeking Left-Wing Unity

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) is set on removing all internal and external battlefronts and embarking on a course of unification of the left-wing forces, Deyan Dechev, Secretary of the BSP for Bulgaria parliamentary group, said on Eurocom television, as quoted by the party in a press release on Saturday.

Dechev said it is far from enough to have BSP as the only left-wing party in the new National Assembly, where its group, BSP for Bulgaria, is the fifth-largest out of seven parliamentary groups. Therefore, he noted, the party met with The Left! coalition to discuss common policies. "We will hold expert meetings with them to consider legislative initiatives which can be set forth via the BSP for Bulgaria group," he added.

Dechev confirmed the Socialists' decision against supporting a government proposed under the first two of a maximum of three exploratory mandates which President Rumen Radev can grant.

Dechev went on to say: "We propose an end to all negotiations for the sale of the equipment for the Belene nuclear power plant [whose construction has been abandoned]. Remarks by the energy minister made it clear that Reactor Unit 6 of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant is in maintenance mode quite often, including the steam generator. Acquiring a new steam generator can take years, while experts have said that the Belene equipment can be compatible with the Kozloduy NPP. If this is really so, we think that not using it would be a crime against the nation."

BSP has moved several bills to the National Assembly related to exempting young people aged up to 26 from personal income, the practice of volunteering, a proposal to increase the benefit for a second and a third child in the family, setting 9% VAT on medicines (compared with a standard VAT rate of 20%), and allowing only one version of a textbook for each school subject, the MP said.