„We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria“ started talks with all parliamentary forces for amendments to the Constitution in 4 directions, namely:
- Restructuring of the Supreme Judicial Council;
- Strongly limiting the power of the Attorney General;
- Introduction of a direct constitutional appeal;
- Reformatting the status of service governments.
„From „Continuing the change – Democratic Bulgaria“ we see that the second mandate is the only solution for Bulgaria not to go to the sixth parliamentary elections in a row. We are appalled at the extent to which the prosecutor’s office and the judicial system have been taken over. We realize that changing any person in it does not solve the real issue. That is why we are starting hard work on solving the real problem of changing the constitution,“ said the co-chairman of „We continue the change“ Kiril Petkov during a statement on the parliamentary sidelines, in which the leaders of the coalition took part. The co-chairman of „Democratic Bulgaria“ Hristo Ivanov added:
„Today we have to solve the problem of fundamental guarantees of legality. This requires a decisive change in the model of the prosecution, not who currently holds the position of chief prosecutor.“
In parallel with the preparation of the second mandate, talks will begin in the coming days with all parliamentary forces on constitutional reform, he announced, adding:
„This will be a good basis for the efforts to broadcast a government with the second mandate, because this government must not just solve the current crisis, but to become a guarantor for solving its deep foundations and to be a guarantor of legality.“
The co-president of Democratic Bulgaria outlined the ideas for changing the basic law, on which to seek parliamentary agreement. First, it is a restructuring of the High Judicial Council so that the Prosecutor and judge quotas in it are finally separated. A real public quota should be introduced in the prosecutor’s quota, and the complete independence of the court should be guaranteed through the judicial collegium.
Second, maximally limiting the powers of the Prosecutor General, and especially his personnel powers, so that all forms of formal and informal influence behind this totalitarian model are terminated. Because they allow the Attorney General to become a quasi-political player and keep the cases on the docket for a long time, keeping them as weapons for difficult political moments.
„The goal is not to replace Geshev, but the model that allowed Geshev, Tsatsarov, Filchev, the goal is for Bulgaria to be a legal, European country and to move forward,“ said Ivanov.
Thirdly, introducing a direct constitutional complaint or maximally ensuring citizens’ access to constitutional justice. Fourthly, rethinking the institution of caretaker governments so that they focus only on holding elections, and not a quasi-presidential regime emerges around them.
“Such constitutional and legislative changes should be undertaken that there is synchronicity between the executive and the legislature to ensure equal application of the law to all. As Montesquieu says, the separation of powers means their relative independence, but also mutual control”, said the co-chairman of Democratic Bulgaria Atanas Atanasov, revealing that the coalition will also introduce bills affecting the work of the special services and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
