site.btaIssues Beyond Parliament’s Competence Cannot Be Subject to Referendum, National Assembly Chair Kiselova Says

National Assembly Chair Nataliya Kiselova said on Wednesday that national referendums can only be held on issues within the competence of the National Assembly and that matters beyond its authority cannot be submitted for public vote. She addressed members of Vazrazhdane in the plenary hall, telling them to stop misleading people, according to the press centre of BSP – United Left.

Kiselova recalled that in 2009 the Direct Citizen Participation in State and Local Government Act was adopted, stipulating that no referendum can be held on matters within the competence of the Grand National Assembly or on international treaties that have already been ratified. According to her, as was made clear by the Vazrazhdane MP Tsoncho Ganev, the question raised falls under the competence of the Council of Ministers.

“The Bulgarian state cannot afford to appear ridiculous in the eyes of its partners. The Bulgarian people, through the representatives they elected, adopted this law in 2009,” she said.

Kiselova explained that BSP’s position on the euro is unquestionable. She noted that in 1995 a government led by the Socialist Party applied for EU membership, and in 2005, under a BSP Prime Minister, the most intensive efforts for Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union began, culminating in accession in 2007. “Both BSP and its coalition partners have a clear understanding that Bulgaria’s path is pro-European development, without doubt,” she added.

Kiselova also emphasized that Bulgaria was supposed to join the eurozone as early as 2011, but this did not happen for various reasons.

Regarding referendums held in some countries on adopting the euro, she explained that Sweden and Denmark had the right to decide if and when to adopt the euro because this was not part of their EU accession negotiations, whereas for Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia, it is a part of their accession treaties. “To claim that we do not want referendums is incorrect. Questions beyond the competence of the National Assembly simply cannot be put to a public vote. The issue is legal, not political,” Kiselova concluded.