site.btaParliament Chair Hopes Legislature Will Become Place for Constructive Debate

Sofia, December 15 (BTA) - "As someone who is first among equals, I will lay more emphasis on being equal than on being first," the recently elected National Assembly Chair Tsveta Karayancheva said in an year-end interview with BTA. "I want very much to see the National Assembly become a place for constructive debate," Karayancheva said.

She noted that the November 17 resignation of her predecessor Dimiter Glavchev proved that he is a real statesman.

"The people do not want early elections again, because it was fairly recently that they made their choice," Karayancheva said, adding that the ruling coalition is stable and stands every chance of serving out its four-year term in office until 2021.

The National Assembly leader believes that the traditionally low public approval rating of the legislature is due to the language used by the MPs and the relationships among them. At the same time, she thinks the responsibility rests with the Assembly leadership.

Karayancheva took up the Chairperson's job at a difficult moment. In her words, the tensions have somewhat diminished since then, because the bills discussed in the National Assembly are not so controversial anymore, but tensions can be rekindled at any point during the legislative process.

She denied being under pressure from her parliamentary group (GERB) or from other groups.

Karayancheva said the forthcoming Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council is a big challenge, but the country is very well prepared for it.

The priorities of the next National Assembly session, which will begin in January, include legislation related to the administrative and judicial reforms and important agricultural bills aimed to facilitate farmers.

"Of course, the upcoming parliamentary session will be dominated by the parliamentary dimension of the Bulgarian EU Presidency, which will involve very important meetings, such as joint meetings of the foreign affairs committees of the national parliaments, of the committees on energy, internal affairs and so on," she said.

Karayancheva feels she is in good dialogue with the government and with President Rumen Radev. She said: "The ruling coalition is stable and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms will not manage to destabilize the government, because the governance programme and the promises which have been made are being fulfilled."