site.btaNew Chairpersons of Five Parliamentary Committees Elected

Bulgaria’s National Assembly elected new chairpersons of five parliamentary committees on Thursday.

Hasan Ademov from the Democracy, Rights and Freedoms (DRF) parliamentary group was removed as chairperson of the Committee on Demographic Policy, Children and Family. He was replaced by Iliana  Zhekova from GERB-UDF. Petya Dimitrova from There Is Such a People (TISP) was removed as a member of the committee, while Hristinka Ivanova, also from TISP, was elected deputy chairperson.

Mladen Shishkov from GERB-UDF was removed as deputy chairperson of the Committee on Environment and Water and elected as its new chairperson. Bilyana Ivanova from BSP-United Left was elected deputy chairperson.

Sevim Ali from the DRF parliamentary group was removed as chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, Food and Forestry. Tsveta Karayancheva of the GERB-UDF was elected to take over the role.

Levent Memish from the DRF parliamentary group was removed as chairperson of the Committee on e-Government and Information Technology. Petya Dimitrova was elected member and chairperson of the committee. Hristinka Ivanova was removed from her roles as deputy chairperson and member.

Taner Ali of the DRF parliamentary group was removed as chairperson of the Committee on Tourism and replaced by its deputy chairperson, Desislav Taskov from BSP-United Left. Ivaylo Kostadinov from TISP was elected deputy chairperson of the committee.

The proposal to remove Hasan Ademov as chairperson of the Committee on Demographic Policy, Children and Family sparked controversy, prompting a debate primarily between representatives of DRF, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning, and Vazrazhdane. Stanislav Anastassov was sanctioned by Parliament Chair Nataliya Kiselova for referring to MPs on a first-name basis and pointing fingers. 

Hasan Ademov said that he and his colleagues from DRF had declared in Parliament’s Registry their intention to step down from the leadership positions in the respective parliamentary committees.