site.btaGreen Pass Required to Access Parliament's Buildings, MPs, Aides to Pay for Rapid Tests out of Pocket
SC 18:10:01 07-01-2022
LG1806.116
116 POLITICS - PARLIAMENT - GREEN CERTIFICATE
Green Pass Required to Access
Parliament's Buildings,
MPs, Aides to Pay for Rapid Tests out of Pocket
Sofia, January 7 (BTA) - Bulgaria's National Assembly on Friday voted, 154-0 with four abstentions, to pass a draft resolution, moved by Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria, according to which a green COVID-19 certificate will be required for access to Parliament's buildings. The new rules will take effect on January 24 and will continue until the epidemic emergency is in force (March 31, 2022 for the time being).
To be admitted to the National Assembly buildings, people will have to produce proof of a full course of vaccination against COVID-19, proof of recovery from the disease, a certificate of antigens, a 72-hours-old negative PCR test, or a 48-hour-old rapid antigen test. MPs and their aides who take the rapid antigen test option will pay out of pocket. The costs of rapid antigen tests of parliamentary group aides, parliamentary committee staff, the National Assembly administration and members of the media will be borne by Parliament budget.
There Is Such a People (TISP) of the government coalition and the opposition Vazarazhdane stood out of the vote, which was taken after a nearly five-hours-long debate.
The original version of the draft resolution was revised at the plenary sitting. The TISP MPs did not participate in any of the votes on the revisions. The proceedings were interrupted by two 15-minute breaks on motions by TISP and Vazrazhdane.
The resolution does not make any provisions for MPs who refuse to obey the new rules and does not specify the access requirements for members of the public who visit Parliament in connection with its lawmaking activity or wish to submit an alert or lodge a complaint.
"Do you realize what you are doing right now? You are precipitating a civil war!" Elena Gouncheva MP of Vazrazhdane said, lashing out at the ruling majority. "You are from the US Embassy!" she argued.
The legislature defeated a motion by Iva Miteva MP of TISP that journalists' rapid tests only be financed by the National Assembly.
"If the MPs refuse to take a test, we cannot possibly prevent them from entering the debating chamber and exercising their constitutional powers," Miteva argued. In her opinion, the resolution should better enable such MPs to join plenary and committee proceedings by videoconference.
Another revision that was voted down was to introduce the requirement as early as next week, from January 10. It was proposed by the GERB-UDF Parliamentary Group.
The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Parliamentary Group will pay for the tests of its employees and staff because it believes that they should be treated equally with the rest of the people, MRF Deputy Floor Leader Yordan Tsonev said after the resolution was adopted.
Both TISP and Vazrazhdane are known for opposing the epidemic-control measures and especially COVID-19 vaccination.
Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov told a news briefing in Parliament that his parliamentary group will challenge the green certificate resolution before the Constitutional Court if it succeeds in gathering the minimum 48 MP signatures required to file the petition.
A couple of weeks ago, Kostadinov said in a televised interview that his party will organize a storming of Parliament if the green certificate motion is carried. "We will invite the 127,000 people who voted for us to join us when we enter the building," he said, arguing that the people will thus take power back into its hands. "The green certificate is unlawful and discriminatory," Kostadinov argued.
* * *
Speaking to journalists in Parliament's lobby on Friday, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said that scrapping the green certificate could be considered when the vaccination rate in Bulgaria reaches at least 70 per cent.
He noted that at this point the vaccination rate is 35 per cent. "Our task should be to have over 50 per cent vaccinated people, and I would be very happy if we achieve 70 per cent," he added.
"This Government is not going to impose mandatory vaccination for as long as I am Prime Minister," Petkov said.
He noted that since his Government launched a scheme under which each retiree who gets inoculated is paid 75 leva, the number of vaccinated people has jumped by more than 92,000 in the past three days alone.
Commenting on Vazrazhdane's intention to organize a protest rally for abolishing the green certificate, the PM said: "We are not afraid of protest rallies. Any Bulgarian citizen who opposes our policies is welcome to express their opinion." RY, DD/ZH, LG
//
LG1806.116
116 POLITICS - PARLIAMENT - GREEN CERTIFICATE
Green Pass Required to Access
Parliament's Buildings,
MPs, Aides to Pay for Rapid Tests out of Pocket
Sofia, January 7 (BTA) - Bulgaria's National Assembly on Friday voted, 154-0 with four abstentions, to pass a draft resolution, moved by Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria, according to which a green COVID-19 certificate will be required for access to Parliament's buildings. The new rules will take effect on January 24 and will continue until the epidemic emergency is in force (March 31, 2022 for the time being).
To be admitted to the National Assembly buildings, people will have to produce proof of a full course of vaccination against COVID-19, proof of recovery from the disease, a certificate of antigens, a 72-hours-old negative PCR test, or a 48-hour-old rapid antigen test. MPs and their aides who take the rapid antigen test option will pay out of pocket. The costs of rapid antigen tests of parliamentary group aides, parliamentary committee staff, the National Assembly administration and members of the media will be borne by Parliament budget.
There Is Such a People (TISP) of the government coalition and the opposition Vazarazhdane stood out of the vote, which was taken after a nearly five-hours-long debate.
The original version of the draft resolution was revised at the plenary sitting. The TISP MPs did not participate in any of the votes on the revisions. The proceedings were interrupted by two 15-minute breaks on motions by TISP and Vazrazhdane.
The resolution does not make any provisions for MPs who refuse to obey the new rules and does not specify the access requirements for members of the public who visit Parliament in connection with its lawmaking activity or wish to submit an alert or lodge a complaint.
"Do you realize what you are doing right now? You are precipitating a civil war!" Elena Gouncheva MP of Vazrazhdane said, lashing out at the ruling majority. "You are from the US Embassy!" she argued.
The legislature defeated a motion by Iva Miteva MP of TISP that journalists' rapid tests only be financed by the National Assembly.
"If the MPs refuse to take a test, we cannot possibly prevent them from entering the debating chamber and exercising their constitutional powers," Miteva argued. In her opinion, the resolution should better enable such MPs to join plenary and committee proceedings by videoconference.
Another revision that was voted down was to introduce the requirement as early as next week, from January 10. It was proposed by the GERB-UDF Parliamentary Group.
The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Parliamentary Group will pay for the tests of its employees and staff because it believes that they should be treated equally with the rest of the people, MRF Deputy Floor Leader Yordan Tsonev said after the resolution was adopted.
Both TISP and Vazrazhdane are known for opposing the epidemic-control measures and especially COVID-19 vaccination.
Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov told a news briefing in Parliament that his parliamentary group will challenge the green certificate resolution before the Constitutional Court if it succeeds in gathering the minimum 48 MP signatures required to file the petition.
A couple of weeks ago, Kostadinov said in a televised interview that his party will organize a storming of Parliament if the green certificate motion is carried. "We will invite the 127,000 people who voted for us to join us when we enter the building," he said, arguing that the people will thus take power back into its hands. "The green certificate is unlawful and discriminatory," Kostadinov argued.
* * *
Speaking to journalists in Parliament's lobby on Friday, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said that scrapping the green certificate could be considered when the vaccination rate in Bulgaria reaches at least 70 per cent.
He noted that at this point the vaccination rate is 35 per cent. "Our task should be to have over 50 per cent vaccinated people, and I would be very happy if we achieve 70 per cent," he added.
"This Government is not going to impose mandatory vaccination for as long as I am Prime Minister," Petkov said.
He noted that since his Government launched a scheme under which each retiree who gets inoculated is paid 75 leva, the number of vaccinated people has jumped by more than 92,000 in the past three days alone.
Commenting on Vazrazhdane's intention to organize a protest rally for abolishing the green certificate, the PM said: "We are not afraid of protest rallies. Any Bulgarian citizen who opposes our policies is welcome to express their opinion." RY, DD/ZH, LG
//
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