It is of the utmost importance that as many citizens as possible participate in the early parliamentary elections, which will strengthen the legitimacy of the institutions. High voter turnout depends on the parties' ability to propose sustainable solutions and strategic long-term policies to tackle the challenges, President Rumen Radev said as he met with representatives of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Radev's Press Secretariat said here on Tuesday. On March 1, the OSCE opened an observation mission for the April 2 parliamentary elections in Bulgaria. Vice President Iliana Iotova also participated in the meeting.
During the talks, participants discussed the measures taken to ensure the security of the elections, and the organization of the election process. Radev highlighted the role of the caretaker government, which is also working to ensure conditions for "fair, transparent and free elections". Video surveillance in the counting of ballots was highlighted as a means to bring more light to the election process.
The head of State also pointed out that Bulgarians do not need another election campaign based on controversies between party leaders, but one oriented towards real problems. The need for political forces to turn their attention to Bulgarians abroad was also emphasized.
Recent changes to the Election Code were also highlighted. President Radev recalled his veto on the latest amendments, which was overridden by the MPs. In his words, the current law has changed the nature of machine voting, which has so far successfully tackled a number of shortcomings of the election process: it has significantly reduced the percentage of invalid ballots, errors in the tally sheets of district election commissions and vote buying.
/MY/
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