site.btaCentral Election Commission Refuses to Register Coalitions of Both MRF Factions, Peevski Appeals

The Central Election Commission (CEC) Monday refused to register the coalitions of both factions in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF): Democracy, Rights and Freedoms - MRF of those loyal to MRF Honorary Chair Ahmed Dogan, and MRF - New Beginning of Delyan Peevski.

The election administration reasons that the Election Code does not allow one party to be in more than one coalitions. The decisions for both were made in a unanimous vote of 15 votes.

Last week, CEC decided to register the two MRF coalitions simultaneously, without entry number. On September 4, the Commission instructed the two coalitions to make sure "MRF" is not part of them and present proof of that by 17.00 hrs on September 7. Both coalitions said they would not comply and claimed that they represent "the real" MRF.  

CEC Deputy Chair Tsvetozar Tomov commented, "We all know that this case, called an internal party problem in one of the most influential political parties in Bulgaria, was presented to the CEC in a form in which the party turned out to have simultaneously submitted documents for participation in two different coalitions. Our instructions to these two coalitions were intended to do only one thing - to enable the internal party conflict in question to be resolved in such a way that the decision to resolve it would be primarily compliant with the will of MRF's voters".  

Peevski's Faction Appeals

Later on Monday, Peevski said in a position circulated by the party's press centre that MRF - New Beginning has filed an appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court against CEC's refusal to register the coalition. MRF - New Beginning believes that the refusal is unlawful, as the coalition has submitted all the necessary documents in accordance with the Election Code.

According to Peevski, CEC tendentiously ignored the fact that the Movement for Rights and Freedoms - New Beginning coalition was the first to declare its registration with the commission, electronically, submitting at 0:05 on September 2 a regular application signed with the electronic signatures of the persons representing the coalition.

He added that the coalition was established on August 27, and there is an explicit notarized consent from the leadership of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms parliamentary group to use the name and abbreviation of the party.

"In this sense, all subsequent 'participations' of the MRF in other coalitions, as well as the use of the party's abbreviation in their names, are absolutely inadmissible and unlawful," Peevski is quoted as saying.

According to him, CEC has been compromised as an independent body, bearing the highest responsibility for the conduct of fair and democratic elections after the blatant and gross interference of Rumen Radev and the pressure on the CEC Chairman in favour of the MRF defectors [Dogan’s followers].

The Supreme Administrative Court said in a press release it will hear MRF - New Beginning's appeal in open court on Tuesday.

The Court also said it will leave without consideration an appeal submitted by the Democracy, Rights and Freedoms - MRF Coalition against the CEC's instructions of September 4. With the same decision, the magistrates terminated the proceedings in the case.

The court decided that that the appeal is inadmissible, because it was later withdrawn and, also, the instructions of the CEC for the elimination of incompleteness or inconsistencies in coalition registration documents are not subject to independent judicial appeal. Only the refusal of registration can be appealed to the Supreme Court, the court added.

Dogan's Faction Moves to Register as Stand-alone Party

The Movement of Rights and Freedoms (MRF) faction supporting Honorary Chair Ahmed Dogan has submitted documents to run in the October 27 snap parliamentary elections as a stand-alone party, the faction said in a social media post on Monday. "Following up on the refusal of the Central Election Commission to register our coalition, we submitted documents backed with 5,240 signatures, for MRF with leader Dr Ahmed Dogan and Chair Associate Professor Dr. Dzhevdet Chakarov, to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections as a stand-alone party," the post says.

In reaction, Delyan Peevski asked CEC to withdraw the application submitted by Dzhevdet Chakarov for independent registration of the MRF for the upcoming elections, BTA learned from the press centre of Peevski’s MRF-New Beginning. The request to withdraw the application was submitted by Hamid Hamid, authorized by chairman Peevski. A reference to the statutes of MRF shows that when two chairpersons are elected, they exercise powers "jointly and separately" and participate in the composition and activities of MRF bodies when this is provided for in these statutes.