site.btaGERB, Vazrazhdane Urge Justice Minister to Make Nomination for Prosecutor General, Minister Says He Will Not

GERB-UDF and Vazrazhdane urged Justice Minister Atanas Slavov to make a nomination for a Prosecutor General. That happened on Friday during a hearing in Parliament of the Justice Minister regarding action he may take in his capacity as chair of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) plenum, following the election of an acting Prosecutor General earlier this week. Slavov said that he does not intend to do that because he sees the procedure of election of a new Prosecutor General by this SJC as flawed.

The SJC plenum opened a procedure for the election of a new Prosecutor General on Thursday. At least three members of the SJC Prosecutors Chamber can nominate a candidate, as can the Justice Minister. 

Slavov told the MPs that “in a procedure for the election of a new Prosecutor General by the current SJC, which lacks legitimacy, the Minister of Justice has no intention of making a proposal and legitimising the procedure in this way.”

On Thursday, he told the media that he would nominate a candidate for Prosecutor General only after changes in the Constitution and if the Constitution explicitly empowered him with this competence.

The hearing

Desislava Atanasova from GERB-SD told Slavov that he could take the opportunity given by the law and take the choice of a new prosecutor general” into his own hands”. She said any claim that this is a direct interference by politicians in the independent judiciary “will be interpreted as unwillingness to take responsibility and lack of awareness that you cannot say one thing when you are in opposition and then do another when you are in the government”.

MP Petar Petrov of Vazrazhdane said that talks on constitutional reform were being held only between the CC-DB, GERB-UDF and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), and that Vazrazhdane have not been invited and have no idea what the contemplated constitutional reform are.

"I will call on the minister to nominate a candidate for Prosecutor General, I believe he should make use of this constitutional right," he said. Without mentioning any names, he implied that he expected Slavov to nominate Democratic Bulgaria leader Hristo Ivanov for Bulgaria’s top prosecutor.

Toshko Yordanov of There Is Such a People was another one to say that Democratic Bulgaria are discussing constitutional changes only with MRF and GERB.

Atanas Slavov dismissed speculations that he would propose "a specific person for Prosecutor General and much less - the leader of a political party". He added that he had stated clearly: first should come a constitutional reform of the functions of the prosecution service and the prosecutor general, and then a legitimate election under the new rules.

According to Slavov, the debate on constitutional reform should take place in the National Assembly with all political forces. "Everyone should participate, this is not a question of liking or disliking, but a question of state responsibility when the social contract of the nation is changed," he said.

Slavov recalled that when CC-DB and GERB-UDF agreed to form a government, a commitment was made to constitutional reform. As for MRF, they had announced drafting  constitutional changes back in 2022.

"I hope all political forces will show political responsibility and engage in the debate," Slavov said, expressing hope that in the coming weeks “the will for constitutional change will crystallize and the process will begin”.