The parliamentary elections will be held on April 4 – this date was chosen by President Rumen Radev and announced in an address to the citizens. According to him, at a time when institutions are being emptied of trust and collapsed like roads, sidewalks and retaining walls and expensive infrastructure, the elections are becoming crucial. That is why he signed a decree on holding the vote in the first week of April.
As soon as possible, clear health measures should be announced, which will be crucial for the election campaign, as well as guarantee the right to vote of all Bulgarians. Radev noted that the need has been identified for changes to the Electoral Code, which should not be limited to providing a vote to the quarantined, but should also consider voting by mail of Bulgarians abroad, which in many countries will be severely hampered and even unable to exercise their constitutional right to vote, video surveillance in polling stations and broadcasting the process of counting ballots and drawing up election protocols.
„We also need fair access to the media by everyone during the election campaign, the abolition of the manual counting of the machine vote.“, Radev added.
„I expect the pandemic, which has shown that it can not only be a challenge, but also be used as an opportunity, because it can be seen that in the conditions of the pandemic, many long-delayed decisions were made and immediately implemented. Although 2 days ago I was assured in writing by the CEC that the last batch of machines would be delivered within 25 days before election day, I expect the commission to enable all political entities, public organizations that wish to participate in the process of certification and testing, to launch an active campaign to train the administration and to inform citizens about the machine vote. I also expect to take the necessary actions to update the voter lists and to shed light on the election administration at all levels, as well as on „Information Services.“, the Head of State also commented.
According to him, the events of 2020 have shown that Bulgarians want change.
„Overcoming the deep crisis, the necessary reforms and solutions for reconstruction and modernization and full European integration require an hour to have a legitimate parliament and an active, adequate, effective government. At the same time, the activities that the responsible institutions and the election administration have to carry out in preparation, especially for such elections require time and full mobilization.“, Radev said.
