Bulgaria's Electoral Body Replaces Resigned Socialist MPs

CEC Spokespersons Biser Troyanov and Ralitsa Negentsova, photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has appointed two MPs in the place of Iliyana Yotova and Rumen Stoyanov from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) who gave up their seats.

Yotova has chosen to keep her post of MEP from the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, while Stoyanov will remain Mayor of the southern city of Kalofer.

CEC appointed Wednesday Margarita Stoilova and Lazar Popov in the place of Yotova and Stoyanov.

Both decisions were adopted in unanimous votes.

Center-right party GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) was accused of blocking Tuesday's sitting of the CEC when the replacement MPs should have been appointed.

Ten members of CEC from the GERB quota were absent from Tuesday's sitting, which made it impossible for the panel to adopt a decision due to the absence of a quorum.

BSP accused GERB of playing tricks, suggesting that the center-right party had tried to influence the quorum in Parliament as the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms party (DPS) + BSP had been left with 118, not 120 MPs, for two days in a row.

According to the final vote count of the May 12 elections, GERB + nationalist party Ataka have 120 seats, and DPS + BSP – another 120 in the 240-seats unicameral Parliament.

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