The last sitting of the jubilee 50^th National Assembly of Bulgaria ended with a scandal at midnight last night.

In the last hours before adjourning for parliamentary recess because of the election campaign, starting today, some MPs (ITN, Vazedazhdane and the Bulgarian Socialist Party) occupied the central rostrum, blocking access to it, effectively preventing the discussion of an item on the agenda connected with changes to the recovery and resilience plan for the recultivation of the grounds of the Maritsa Iztok coal-fired thermal power plant. After the end of the sitting, the parties which had submitted the proposal stated that this means Bulgaria will lose huge funds under the plan which will now have to be paid out from the national budget. The parties opposing the proposal which occupied the central rostrum hampering anyone from taking the stand, stated that this money would allegedly be absorbed by affiliated companies and would not reach the miners.

Even though the old parliament is in recess because of the election campaigning which starts today, it can still be reconvened in the period until the election on 27 October if an emergency arises.