site.bta Joint Governance Council to Hold First Meeting on Tuesday, Says GERB-UDF Deputy Floor Leader Nazaryan

The first meeting of the Joint Governance Council will be held on Tuesday, GERB-UDF Deputy Floor Leader Raya Nazaryan said in an interview with the Bulgarian Nationa Radio here on Sunday. She added that the Council has three representatives each from GERB-UDF, BSP - United Left and There Is Such a People (TISP), as well as two from Democracy, Rights and Freedoms (DRF), who supported the government and will participate in the debates on each issue, present their views and be part of the parliamentary majority. 

"We have taken a deliberative and consensus approach," Nazaryian said, clarifying that there would be no quota allocation of deputy ministers or regional governors. The expertise of each candidate will be the guiding factor. It will be ensured, especially in the ministries where there is a minister from a particular political formation, that his deputies are from the other political forces in the coalition so that there is control, more stability and trust, she added. 

As one of the most complex tasks the Government faces, she pointed to public finances and the State Budget, which has to be redrafted. GERB-UDF's Deputy Floor Leader added that Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova will present  at the beginning of the next week a detailed analysis of the real situation, as well as the measures that are needed. 

Nazaryan said the parties in Government will continue to have ideological differences in the future, but expressed confidence that the challenges can be overcome with detailed discussion and good planning.

She commented on the differences regarding Bulgaria's accession to the euro area. "It is clear to everyone what the benefit of the country joining the euro area will be. Both BSP and TISP are of the opinion that it will lead to a better investment environment and that it will be a big plus for active businesses. If we want economic growth and to be able to raise incomes, this is part of the way. The question is how it will be done, what will be the formula so that the country is prepared, there are no shocks and we can enjoy the positives of the eurozone," Nazaryan said.

Regarding the election of Daniel Mitov as Interior Minister, Nazaryan said that the Interior Ministry system needs calming down and Mitov is dialogical and can achieve that. 

Referring to the criticism of the appointment of Ivaylo Ivanov as the head of the political cabinet of the Interior Minister, Nazaryan said that Mitov will not reconsider his decision on this appointment. 

"After the protests in 2020, all the checks of cases of police powers overstepping were assigned precisely by the then Secretary General Ivaylo Ivanov. He did what he should have done - identified the cases of excess of powers and held them accountable. It is absolutely untrue that the notorious records were concealed. They are attached to all the evidence for the investigation of these cases precisely thanks to the work of Ivaylo Ivanov. He is an officer whose career has developed from the lowest to the highest step in the Ministry of Interior and knows the system very well," argued Nazaryan.