site.btaPatriotic Front to Withdraw Slavi Binev As Parliamentary Culture Committee Chairman

Patriotic Front to Withdraw Slavi Binev As Parliamentary Culture Committee Chairman

Sofia, December 8 (BTA) - The parliamentary group of the
Patriotic Front will withdraw MP Slavi Binev as Chairman of the
parliamentary Culture and Media Committee, Floor Leader Valeri
Simeonov said Monday.

A former member of the European Parliament, Binev has come into
the public eye primarily for his alleged connections with
strong-arm groups in the 1990s and as the owner of discos and
night clubs, including BIAD, a venue in Sofia known as a centre
of Bulgarian pop-folk music, an arguably vulgar music genre of 
little genuine worth. The company of Sofia's Ivan Vazov National
 Theatre on Friday threatened to resign en masse, because they
do not want  Binev MP of the Patriotic Front to head the Culture
 and Media Committee in Parliament.

Simeonov noted that there is an exceedingly ugly ongoing
campaign to slander the name of Binev without the support of any
 arguments. The people who protested against him refused to meet
 both him and the PF parliamentary leadership. Nevertheless, the
 group think that no more tension should be generated at the
moment. That is why the group discussed the matter today,
Simeonov said.

At the meeting Binev outlined his opinion on the matter. He said
 he feels hurt and considers this an exceedingly ugly attack
against him. He tendered his resignation before the
parliamentary group which, in turn, decided to withdraw him from
 the chairmanship. This will be done as soon as possible.

Earlier in the day, Culture Minister Vezhdi Rashidov after a
meeting with  National Assembly Chair Tsetska Tsacheva said: "I
am convinced that our artists should have all the conditions 
they need for normal work. Now we have resignations of directors
  and actors from the National Theatre, there are also protests
 from other institutions, from the Union of Bulgarian Artists, 
from musical unions and other artistic organisations, from 
intellectuals, as well as from the public media, and this price
 is too high for any politician. When so many people express 
radical disagreement with one election, then these are grave 
indications which we should consider carefully."

"The Reformist Bloc owes apologies to its voters," the Chairman
of the Peoples Party Freedom and Dignity, Korman Ismailov said.
His party is part of the RB coalition. Legislative steps for
changing the procedure of election of parliamentary committee
chairpersons will be discussed. Binev's nomination for this 
position is totally inadequate and if it is not withdraw it will
  have to be boycotted by the RB representatives in the
committee, the MP said. 

There are also some artists who support Binev. On Monday they
gave a news conference in which they said he should be given a
certain period of time to see what he would do and then be
criticized if need be.