site.btaInterior Minister Dechev Vows to Do His Best "to Allow Interior Ministry Personnel to Fulfill Obligations and Secure Fair Elections"

The interior minister in Bulgaria's new caretaker government has vowed to do his best to ensure that the early parliamentary elections on April 19 are fair. “We, as the leadership of the Ministry of Interior, will do everything to give the ministry’s staff the opportunity to fulfil their share of the responsibility for conducting fair elections,” Emil Dechev told journalists on Thursday, minutes after taking over as Minister of Interior from Daniel Mitov.

He added that the Interior Ministry is not the only body responsible for fair and free elections. This obligation also falls on political parties, non-governmental organizations, the Central Election Commission, and the Information Services Company, he noted. “We will not shirk our share of responsibility and will give everything we can,” Dechev said.

“As a judge, I deeply believe that 'rule of law' is not an empty phrase in the Constitution, and for this reason the ministry’s leadership will be guided by the Constitutional Court’s decision, under which 16 MPs left the National Assembly, 16 others took their place, and a new parliamentary group was formed,” Dechev added, referring to developments in the present parliament.

He noted that he and his predecessor Daniel Mitov have discussed various important issues, including the Petrohan-Okolchitsa tragedy, in which six people lost their lives.

The Interior Ministry will carry out a staff review in connection with the Petrohan-Okolchitsa case. “If possible, we will assist in establishing the objective truth. We are ready to provide help, if necessary, including foreign expertise,” Dechev added.

He stressed that the Interior Ministry does not have the final word on the case. “The final word belongs to the Prosecution Service," the Minister said. He referred to Petrohan-Okolchitsa as “two cases likely to be linked.”