site.btaMECh Party Leader Reports Alleged Misconduct by MPs from Velichie

MECh leader Radostin Vasilev reported allegations against MPs from the Velichie parliamentary group in Parliament on Thursday. He said the alerts were filed by Grigor Zdravkov, representative of the Legia Antimafia organization. According to Vasilev, the allegations involve Velichie MPs Maria Ilieva and Stiliana Bobcheva and concern the forging of a declaration required under the Election Code.

Vasilev claimed that for more than ten days, Nataliya Kiselova, in her capacity as chairperson of the National Assembly, withheld two reports submitted to Parliament and other institutions about serious document-related offences involving misappropriation of state resources. He said that the acting Prosecutor General, the President and all parliamentary groups had been informed of the situation.

According to Vasilev, Maria Ilieva did not complete the declaration required for the registration of Velichie's candidate lists in Plovdiv and Sofia. Grigor Zdravkov alleged that the document was filled out by Stiliana Bobcheva. Vasilev argued that this constitutes a violation, as the law requires the declaration to be completed personally by the applicant.

"If Grigor Zdravkov's claims are true, the Velichie parliamentary group has an unlawfully declared MP," Vasilev said. "Nine MPs are one short of the required number for a parliamentary group." He called for the MP immunity of Ilieva and Bobcheva to be lifted, warning that the situation could amount to a constitutional crisis.

Vasilev also said there is a complaint concerning Velichie's party subsidy. The alert claims that, according to the National Audit Office's annual financial report for the party, funds were spent unlawfully and inappropriately on companies linked to Velichie founder and floor leader Ivelin Mihaylov, though not directly under his control, the MECh leader said.