„Bulgaria needs a responsible and regular government to lead the country through the challenges and to continue building – for the people. The country needs a government that is ready to take political responsibility for its actions, to stand with its true face in front of Bulgarian citizens and to work decisively for their interests and needs.„
Thus begins the letter signed by Chairman of the parliamentary group of „We Continue the Change“ Andrey Gyurov, which was sent to the parliamentary parties, in which he expresses his party’s readiness together with „Democratic Bulgaria“ /DB/ to form a government with the second mandate with clear priorities and guarantees. It further states:
„With the second mandate of „We Continue the Change“, with the support of „Democratic Bulgaria“, we are ready to propose a minority government with clear priorities and guarantees to show whether the parliamentary parties are ready to work and solve the problems of the people or pursue other goals.
The priorities we set as most important and urgent are aimed at achieving the following national goals:
- To reduce inequality in Bulgaria by continuing our social policy towards the most deprived. A dignified way of life should not be reserved only for the chosen few and those close to power, but is due to all Bulgarian citizens as their fundamental right.
- To support business not only by keeping taxes low, but also by reducing the long-awaited administrative burden and corruption risk.
- To increase confidence in democracy, the rule of law and the electoral process in Bulgaria. The concepts of ‘law’ and ‘justice’ must apply to all, no one is above the law.
- To join Schengen in 2023 – Bulgarians deserve to be full Europeans, without intra-European restrictions. To join the Eurozone on January 1, 2024. It’s time to end the banking supervision of the transition, it’s time to end the bank transaction fees for our exporters, it’s time to remove currency risk as a factor when investing in Bulgaria.
Unfortunately, in this Parliament, trust between political parties is at an all-time low. The last two months are indicative of the lack of this trust and the lack of a stable parliamentary majority with clear principles and priorities. In these conditions, and without breaking the promise we made to our voters not to enter into backroom deals, we realise that a minority government could hardly exist and work successfully.
The only way to overcome this political impasse is through concrete action in Parliament itself, in front of the eyes of the Bulgarian people. It is up to the President of Parliament, Mr Rashidov of the GERB-SDP Group, to decide on the entire legislative programme and priorities for the work of the 48th National Assembly, but there is also a role for the chairmen of the parliamentary standing committees and the Members of the Chamber. If the political parties want to prove by deeds that they have the political will to work on the national tasks mentioned, let the committee chairmen and the MPs in the plenary hall work on the truly important bills that have already been tabled:
Reducing inequality
- The 2023 budget should include a new increase in pensions, an increase in tax credits for young families, a raise in the minimum wage, as well as the salaries of teachers, doctors and nurses, subject to a 3% budget deficit.
Improving business conditions
- the draft laws under the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan to be considered as a priority and, if possible, in a shortened timeframe in order to ensure timely absorption of the EU funds due to Bulgaria.
- Priority consideration of submitted legal proposals to reduce the administrative burden for businesses.
Increasing confidence in democracy in Bulgaria, the rule of law and the electoral process
- Adoption of the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and the Law on Criminal Procedure related to the Prosecutor General’s investigation mechanism and improvement of pre-trial proceedings.
- Adoption of amendments to the CPC to enable the investigating authorities to initiate pre-trial proceedings and to request the court to carry out certain investigative actions without being entirely dependent on the prosecution.
- Adoption of the draft law on the CAFIAP with investigative functions and leadership, which is proposed by the Council of Ministers and elected by the National Assembly;
- Submission of a proposal to amend the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria to remove the unlimited power of the Prosecutor General (repeal of Article 126(2) of the CRB) and other necessary amendments.
- Adoption of the President’s veto of the amendments to the Electoral Code in order to repeal the undemocratic amendments adopted in the small hours of the night in the last 2 months.
Schengen in 2023 and joining the Eurozone in 2024
- Adoption of relevant amendments to the laws governing the procedure for the election of the chairpersons of the security services (SANS, SIA, NSA, Military Intelligence and the Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior).
In order to build capacity to tackle the challenges and obstacles to our entry into Schengen and the Eurozone, in addition to clear support for laws to tackle the problems in the judiciary and corruption, the minority government must have the ability to reform the services so that the executive can appoint and manage them effectively.
Unprecedentedly, already 2 months after the elections, Bulgaria does not have an elected regular government. Transparent and decisive action is needed, and time is running out. Therefore, if you are ready to work together on the important priorities for Bulgaria, the first real steps to confirm this will and to prove it in practice would be to schedule in committees and vote in the House on: a) the law on the CAFIAP, b) the rejection of the changes to the Electoral Code, c) the adoption of our proposals for changes to the laws on the services and d) the budget.
We invite you tomorrow at the Speaker’s Council to discuss the schedule for priority consideration of the above bills and to stand behind the call to the President to ensure sufficient parliamentary time before the handing over of the second mandate for the political groups in the 48th Parliament to show through their deeds in the chamber whether they are ready to work for a regular government, or whether they want to push the country towards new elections.“
