site.btaNo-Confidence Motion over Pre-Cabinet Issues Seeks to Destabilize Parliament, Legislative Body Chair Kiselova Says

Speaking on Bulgarian National Television on Thursday, Parliament Chair Nataliya Kiselova said that “pushing for a vote of no confidence over things that happened before this government was elected is an attempt to destabilize the National Assembly and obstruct its work”. Earlier in the day, MPs voted down a no-confidence motion against Rosen Zhelyazkov’s Cabinet over corruption.

“It is reasonable to have no-confidence motions when they address issues in the overall policy; when they concern the governance programme, actions or inactions of the government,” Kiselova said. “The issues that are currently raised are not on the agenda of Bulgarian citizens or businesses,” she added.

“Textbooks on parliamentary law say that a vote of no confidence is the most powerful weapon, and it should be used as a last resort. The tools for parliamentary oversight outlined in the Constitution and rules of procedure should be used far more frequently,” the Parliament Chair said. Reflecting on the fact that the first no-confidence motion against the Cabinet came nearly 70 days after it was sworn in, Kiselova suggested that the government should at least be allowed its first 100 days to get to work, especially since some of its members are newcomers.

When asked why such motions are put forward even when they are unlikely to succeed, Kiselova noted that parliamentary groups acted similarly during the state budget discussions. She said that nearly 39,000 motions were submitted during that time, calling it “an abuse of the tools of parliamentary democracy,” and said the same thing seems to be happening now.

Responding to a question about Parliament’s work, Kiselova said that “the 51st National Assembly had elected a government, adopted a budget, voted down two no-confidence votes and passed 15 laws with a larger majority than usual”. In her words, there has been a lot of preparatory work on the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

“Five months ago, I thought that there is no way people would not agree on who would be in the majority, who would be in the opposition, and would work constructively. Now with this major fragmentation in the National Assembly, I see that each parliamentary group has its own goals, and they do not always align with one another,” Kiselova said.