site.btaState Intelligence Agency Head Will Be Elected by Parliament Upon Council of Ministers' Proposal

Parliament on Friday voted conclusively amendments under which the Chairperson of the State Intelligence Agency will be elected by the National Assembly based on a proposal by the Council of Ministers.

The Chairperson will have three deputies, who will be appointed by decision of the Council of Ministers for a term of five years, upon nomination by the Chairperson.

Parliament also voted that an inspector at the Agency will be a civil servant under the current law.

An amendment proposed by Zlatan Zlatanov from Vazrazhdane, which would have delayed the enforcement of the law until one year after the inauguration of the next president and vice president, was rejected.

Through the State Intelligence Act, Parliament also introduced amendments to the Management and Operation of the National Security Protection System Act. The provision that the Council of Ministers proposes the appointment and dismissal of the head of Military Intelligence to the President remains in force. However, the President’s right to appoint the Chairperson of SIA was removed.

In addition, Parliament amended the Weapons, Ammunition, Explosives and Pyrotechnic Articles Act, now requiring that firearms manufacturers place a unique marking on each weapon with a minimum depth of 0.0762 millimeters.

During the debate, Nikolay Radulov from MECh criticized the changes, arguing they will lead to the re-politicization of the intelligence services.

“These amendments violate the core principle embedded in the special laws -  that the services must remain apolitical,” he said.

Radulov compared the post of inspector in SIA and the Military Intelligence Service to those in the CIA and FBI, noting that: “In the U.S., the inspector jobs were created in response to high-level betrayals and come with broad powers and independence.

 In contrast, under the Bulgarian model, inspectors report to the heads of the very agencies they are meant to oversee.  “That’s why our parliamentary group will not support this bill,” Radulov said.

Zlatan Zlatanov from Vazrazhdane stressed the importance of keeping the State Intelligence Agency free from the political passions currently raging in the plenary hall.

Fellow MP Tsveta Rangelova said that in the past two to three weeks, the National Assembly has been grossly disrupting the institutional balance by undermining the role of the president as a mediator between the executive and legislative branches.

“We understand your political agenda to limit the powers of the President. But keep in mind — his name will still be Rumen Radev for about a year. Then what? Will we once again expand the powers of the head of state just because he becomes convenient for those in power?” she asked.

Rangelova criticized the practice of passing legislation targeted at a specific individual, calling it detrimental to the entire society.

 “These legislative changes are nothing more than a product of political bickering between two major political factions and the president. That’s why we will not support them,” she concluded.

Petar Petrov also from Vazrazhdane said:  “We consider the bill unconstitutional, and once the provisions come into force, we will seek to gather 48 MPs' signatures to challenge them before the Constitutional Court.”

Last week, the Parliament also passed, in two readings during a single session, a similar amendment to the State Agency for National Security (SANS) Act, under which the Chairperson of SANS is now elected by the National Assembly upon proposal of the Council of Ministers.