“Yesterday, we, the MPs from the parliamentary group of the political party “We Continue the Change”, entered into the office of the National Assembly Draft Law on Combating Corruption. Corruption is a social evil that destroys the foundations of government. The lack of an effective fight against corruption at the highest levels of government has lasting negative economic, social and political consequences for our country, both domestically and internationally. Waste of public funds, deepening poverty and declining foreign investment are the real economic consequences of corruption. Corruption is one of the main reasons for the loss of public trust in institutions and the lack of justice, especially during the years of GERB’s rule. The economic dependence of political elites upsets the democratic balance and the political rights of citizens.”
This is written in a statement read by the chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs and MP from the Parliament Milen Mateev on the occasion of the submission of a draft law on anti-corruption. It also states:
“Realizing all this, from“ We continue the change „, we identify corruption as the number one enemy for the socio-economic development of Bulgaria and stated in our election program our determination to fight uncompromisingly with it.
Detected deficiencies in the work of the anti-corruption body motivate us to create a new body with broader and at the same time focused powers, which is neither an „umbrella“ for the corrupt or a „bat“ for those inconvenient for the government, such as the infamous CCP, appointed and controlled by GERB, and to be an independent body that conducts effective and quality investigation and detection of corruption and schemes at all levels of government, while providing sufficient safeguards to prevent it from becoming a repressive body.
This bill was stopped for a long time with backstage games and absurd, ultimately set conditions that would make it impossible for the Anti-Corruption Commission set up by the representatives of the political leadership of „There is such a people“. Behind their demands, there is a fear of checking their integrity, of shedding light on their property, interests and dependencies. They wanted to have „their own man“ in the Commission, with a veto over decisions on who should be scrutinized and investigated and who should not.
These people continue to talk about morality and the fight against corruption, but we have done everything possible to ensure that we do not have an effective body that investigates and investigates corruption crimes.
The time for persuasion and compromise is over. We, from „Continuing Change“, have already put on the table our views on effective counteraction and detection of corruption in government. We present our project for a working anti-corruption body to the public, hoping for an open and professional debate in the National Assembly and call on all honorable MPs who are aware of their responsibility to their constituents to respond to their demands and hopes for justice and morality in governance. the state by supporting our bill.
The vote on the Anti-Corruption Act will show where the dividing line passes between those involved in and covering up corruption schemes and those fighting against this social evil – corruption.”
