site.btaBulgarian Socialist Party Leadership Cannot Be Transferred by Authorization, Party's Executive Bureau Says

On Wednesday evening, the Executive Bureau of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) released a statement regarding outgoing BSP leader Korneliya Ninova's statement made earlier in the day. The statement reads that that the party's leadership cannot be transferred by authorization.

Earlier in the day, Ninova said that she had authorized BSP National Council members Georgi Svilenski and Ivan Chenchev to take charge of the party's registration for entry into the elections and the registration of its candidate lists. She expressed concern that her party may be unable to run in the October 27 early parliamentary elections because of her dispute with acting chair Atanas Zafirov.

The declaration of BSP's Executive Bureau reads that the party is not heritage to be transferred by authorization. "The National Council has clearly ruled who is the acting chairman - Atanas Zafirov. Attempts to install Ivan Chenchev and Georgi Svilenski, who are not even members of the Executive Bureau, is just the latest attempt by Ninova to bypass term limits and secure a seat as an MP."

According to the statement, Ninova has left BSP in "an extremely difficult financial situation with nearly BGN 3 million in debts". BSP's Executive Bureau also say that "the party headquarters were brought to a humiliating existence on the brink of closure", because of delays in the receiving of a subsidy from the state for the party's participation in the 49th National Assembly. 

The Bureau noted that the case is not the same with the subsidy to be received for participation in the 50th National Assembly. "The BSP was confronted head-on with Ninova's attempts to sabotage any action. The subsidy has to be requested by the coalition's representative Korneliya Ninova," the statement reads. 

The declaration indicates that on July 3 a request for extension of the deadline was released in waiting for Ninova to fulfill her obligation. The request was issued by the party's lawyer. Ninova did not take action in the desired direction, but she terminated the party lawyer's power of attorney, further complicating the process, the statements say. "After Ninova's outright refusal to fulfill her obligations under the law, a request was released by Positano 20 [BSP headquarters' address]to the [Justuce] Ministry, which received an expected refusal," the declaration said.

The statement accuses Ninova of sabotaging the receipt of the party subsidy and states that "sabotage will not be tolerated."