Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Constitutional amendments to be tabled in National Assembly next week

Photo: BGNES

The stressful negotiations that took place Thursday in Parliament between the political forces of the ruling majority, with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister for European Policy Coordination Meglena Kuneva and Minister of Justice Hristo Ivanov, produced encouraging news. Next Wednesday GERB will begin collecting the necessary 60 signatures in order to propose changes to the Constitution. The bill with amendments to the Constitution related to the judiciary is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly the very same day. It is offered that the mandate of the Supreme Judicial Council should be reduced from 5 to 4 years. The Supreme Judicial Council is also planned to be divided into two sections - judicial and prosecutor's, which has been Brussels' recommendation for years. This is what GERB, the Reform Bloc and the Patriotic Front agreed during the consultations. Meanwhile, it became clear that MPs of the Reform Bloc will propose between the two readings including in the changes the possibility of dismissal of the chief prosecutor in cases of violation of the constitution or other laws, or in case of undermining the prestige of the judiciary. As expected, Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov described the idea as an attempt to "curb the prosecution" and explained that the Constitutional Court has already discussed if the parliament could change the Chief Prosecutor and heads of the supreme courts. The Patriotic Front offer that the Minister of Justice should head the chambers and the plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council. The position of ABC, which supports the government, is different. The party calls for convening the Grand National Assembly and is against splitting the Supreme Judicial Council.

If necessary, instead of ABC’s support, GERB may use the support of the Bulgarian Democratic Centre, which is the only opposition party that was invited to the consultations.

English Alexander Markov


Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Yordan Tsonev

No one has requested support from DPS-New Beginning for the election of National Assembly Speaker

DPS-New Beginning MP Yordan Tsonev said in an interview with BNT that no one has requested support from their party for the election of National Assembly Speaker. Yordan Tsonev criticized We Continue the Change- Democratic Bulgaria for violating a..

published on 11/19/24 10:59 AM
Borislav Gutsanov

Borislav Gutsanov: There is no point in holding elections without a change in the Constitution

''If the Constitution is not amended, there is no point in holding another election under the same rules and with the same bought, controlled and corporate vote'', the co-chairman of the parliamentary group of BSP-United Left Borislav Gutsanov said in..

published on 11/17/24 2:02 PM

Disregard for parliamentary traditions marks a dangerous regression in Bulgarian politics

The first sitting of the newly elected National Assembly has ended. As in the last three Bulgarian parliaments, the election of a speaker proved to be a serious challenge, as neither of the two candidates - Raya Nazarian of GERB-SDS and Andrei Tsekov of..

published on 11/12/24 1:56 PM