Bulgaria PM Ready to Dismiss Any Suspicious Appointees

Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski has suggested he is ready to dismiss anybody who rouses suspicions.

Speaking Thursday before the sitting of the Consultative Council on National Security (KSNS), Oresharski made clear that he had dismissed Deputy Interior Minister Ivan Ivanov several hours after his appointment over allegations that he had been occupying "inappropriate posts" during the 90s.

"I will keep dismissing people I consider unsuitable. I will dismiss anybody whose name arouses suspicions," Oresharski declared, as cited by Sega daily.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister went on to say that Ivanov's involvement in organized crime group SIC, over which he was removed from the post of Deputy Interior Minister, was not indicated in the archives of the Interior Ministry.

Asked to comment on the matter, Interior Minister Tsvetelin Yovchev argued that he had not nominated Ivanov but had merely accepted a political proposal of the party of which Ivanov was a member.

Before being appointed Deputy Interior Minister, Ivanov took an oath of office as MP in the 42nd National Assembly from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

"Ivan Ivanov is not my nomination. I accepted this political appointment in the belief that the political parties supporting the Cabinet should have the opportunity to exercise control over the planning and implementation of policies through Deputy Ministers," Yovchev told the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) on Thursday.

He emphasized that the allegations concerning Ivanov's past had made it impossible to keep him at the post of Deputy Interior Minister.

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