site.btaOpposition Opposes Urgent Parliamentary Vote on Election Code Amendments, TISP Responds

Thursday's National Assembly sitting kicked off with declarations by the parliamentary groups of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), Vazrazhdane and There Is Such a People (TISP).

CC-DB were first to issue a declaration, in which they opposed the urgent inclusion for plenary debate of the amendments to the Election Code. "If there is no urgency whatsoever for adopting the Election Code, why will we shortly be voting on its urgent entry into the plenary hall,” CC-DB MP Bozhidar Bozhanov asked. “You have no legitimacy at all to do this at the moment, you have been removed from power,” he addressed the majority in the National Assembly. He also addressed BSP - United Left with a question as to why, after repeatedly declaring that they were proposing a postponement of the introduction of optical scanners, they would support the urgent entry of the amendments into the plenary hall. According to him, this does not align with any logic. “The problem is not only that you are acting arrogantly, but that you do not know what you are doing, you have no answer to a single question, neither expert nor political, you are hiding from debate, you remain silent and quietly carry out the orders of [MRF - New Beginning Floor Leader Delyan] Peevski," Bozhanov said.

Vazrazhdane issued a declaration calling for the deadline for the parallel use of the lev and the euro to be extended until the end of June. This bill has for more than a month been refused consideration by the relevant committee, party leader Kostadin Kostadinov said. At the same time, the amendments to the Election Code, adopted by sleeping and dozing MPs in the legal affairs committee, are now being brought forward in an extreme manner, he noted.

TISP Deputy Floor Leader Svetoslav Balabanov commented that it is clear the country is heading towards elections and that everyone is already in campaign mode. According to him, one of CC-DB’s talking points is linked to the amendments to the Election Code. In Balabanov’s view, political hypocrisy is taking precedence.