site.btaContinue the Change Demand Interior Minister's Resignation, Home Affairs Policy to Be Among Discussed Topics for No-Confidence Motion

Interior Minister Daniel Mitov must go, Lena Borislavova of Continue the Change told journalists in Parliament when asked whether Mitov should resign. "Officially, I want this resignation, but this is not the first time we demand it," she said. "There is also a vote of no confidence in the Government that we will initiate, and this will probably be one of the topics that will be discussed by our National Council, although there are a number of others," Borislavova added.

In her words, MRF - New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski on Thursday defended Mitov's total failure as Interior Minister, which looks very similar to the defence that was given to the previous head of the Interior Ministry, Kalin Stoyanov, for a long time. Continue the Change want to know whether Mitov will become an MP of MRF - New beginning, because it is obvious that he is not coping and sweeps under the rug any investigations into gross violations of the law by Interior Ministry officials. According to Borislavova, this is one of the examples of Peevski's control over the Interior Ministry system.

Borislavova pointed out that the second example is related to the delayed procedure for electing a new leadership of the counter-corruption commission. "This is the only body elected by the National Assembly for which the process is not moving. Why? Because we found out that the Government, under pressure from Peevski, is trying to renegotiate the rules. But Brussels has refused - and this is information from this week, to simplify the rules and allow easier defence against political interference in the election of the commission's leadership," she commented.   

"We have learned that Delyan Peevski has set a firm condition to Prime Minister Zhelyazkov that Anton Slavchev remain head of this commission until there is an option for his re-election within a simplified procedure, so that he would again be the convenient all-purpose assistant, for political orders which we have been witnessing on the counter-corruption commission's part nearly every two months," Borislavova argued.

Regarding the case of  36-year-old Yavor Georgiev, who died after he was taken in custody in Varna (on the Black Sea), Borislavova called that "an extremely grotesque police violence, in which we again have a delayed reaction and lack of results despite the double pay rise."

In a position released by the party's press centre on Thursday, Continue the Change said that "the case of police violence in Varna is yet another alarming signal of the serious problems in the system of the Interior Ministry and the lack of adequate management by Interior Minister Daniel Mitov. "Minister Mitov is failing in his responsibilities and we demand his immediate resignation," the party said.

Continue the Change demand that body cameras be made compulsory for all law enforcement officers, and that Minister Mitov publicly answer several questions, including what developments there are in the probe into the Pepi the Euro (Petyo Petrov) archive, which revealed corrupt links between Interior Ministry officials and criminal groups.

Borislavova also said that on Thursday, Continue the Change co-leader Assen Vassilev's Facebook page was taken down, as was the page of the Bulgarian Elves, because, in her words, they are exposing schemes that have been going on for years and the Government is not willing to expose.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament earlier in the day, Bozhidar Bozhanov, co-chairman of Yes, Bulgaria, part of the Democratic Bulgaria coalition within the Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria parliamentary group, recalled that Daniel Mitov is Deputy Chairman of GERB. "Today, both GERB and the Prime Minister actually spoke, to say the least, quite unflatteringly about him, and he lost support. He remained only on the support of Peevski," said Bozhanov.

"Perhaps it is wise for the Minister to say whether he is Peevski's minister only or will work for the people. But the last case in which here, in front of you, Peevski supported an interior minister, then the interior minister joined MRF - New Beginning,“ commented Bozhanov, referring to Kalin Stoyanov. 

In Bozhanov's words, the very strange plot observed on Thursday is the beginning of the Government's attempt to overthrow themselves, to "create such turbulence inside the ruling majority, inside GERB even, that they have a reason to overthrow themselves, seeing how many negatives they are accumulating from this harmful government."