site.btaFormer PM Zhelyazkov, 11 Ex-Ministers Return to Parliament as MPs

Former Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and eleven ministers from his cabinet have returned to the National Assembly as Members of Parliament. They were part of the 51st National Assembly before being appointed to executive office.

National Assembly Chair Raya Nazaryan announced on Thursday that, following the appointment and swearing-in of the caretaker government, the parliamentary mandates of Rosen Zhelyazkov, Tomislav Donchev, Atanas Zafirov, Daniel Mitov, Georg Georgiev, Georgi Georgiev, Krasimir Valchev, Zhecho Stankov, Ivan Ivanov, Borislav Gutsanov, Manol Genov, and Silvi Kirilov had been restored. At the same time, the mandates of the MPs who had replaced them during their tenure in the regular government were terminated.

Under Article 68(2) of the Constitution, any Member of the National Assembly elected as a minister shall cease to serve as a Member during his term of office as a minister. During that period, he shall be substituted in the National Assembly in a manner established by law.

As a result, 12 MPs are leaving Parliament: Georgi Georgiev, Mihail Mitov, Denitsa Nikolova, Stefan Marinov, Valeria Slavova, Desita Petkova, and Stanislav Guberov from GERB-SDS; Nina Dimitrova, Bilyana Ivanova, Galin Durev, and Desislav Taskov from BSP-United Left; and Dimitar Gardev from There Is Such a People. These changes will also affect the composition of the standing parliamentary committees.

Until now, Gardev had served as Chair of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of European Funds, while Taskov had chaired the Committee on Tourism. Denitsa Nikolova was Deputy Chair of the Committee on Budget and Finance, Galin Durev Deputy Chair of the Committee on Defence, Bilyana Ivanova Deputy Chair of the Committee on Environment and Water, and Nina Dimitrova Deputy Chair of the Committee on Labour and Social Policy.

Former Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova, who had taken the oath as an MP at the opening of the 51st National Assembly, will not return to Parliament. By a ruling of the Constitutional Court, the election of 16 MPs, including Petkova, was declared unlawful, and the party Velichie entered Parliament as the ninth political force.

Meanwhile, Hasan Ademov, who became Minister of Labour and Social Policy in the caretaker government headed by Andrey Gurov, is leaving Parliament. His seat is to be taken by the next candidate on the list of the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms.