Right-Winger Named New Bulgarian Anti-corruption Head

Bulgarian Blue Coalition MP Dimo Gyaurov takes over as head of the anti-corruption committee, as Yane Yanev is removed from the position. Photo by BGNES

Following the collapse of the RZS parliamentary group, ex-party leader Yane Yanev is no longer the chairman and member of the Bulgarian Anti-Corruption, Conflict of Interests and Parliamentary Ethics Committee.

This has been announced at the beginning of Thursday’s session by the presiding deputy chairman Lachezar Ivanov (GERB). The rotating presidency of the anti-corruption commission has been taken by Dimo Gyaurov, an MP from the Blue Coalition.

On Wednesday, Yanev, who still did not know that the next day he would not be heading the anti-corruption commission, had announced that interesting things were to be expected at the meeting, and had invited the media to attend. The committee had been expected to discuss warnings of cases of conflict of interests related to ministers.

After the group disbanded, RZS also lost its representation through Yanev on the commission for control of the State Agency for National Security (DANS).

Under parliamentary regulations, only one representative of each parliamentary group may be a member of the two special commissions - DANS control and the commission on combating corruption.

Atanas Semov, the Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly, and also a member of the RZS group, has also been discharged because, according to parliamentary regulations, independent MPs have no right of representation in the leadership of the Bulgarian National Assembly.

In the same way, Dimitar Chukarski has lost his position as head of the Foreign Policy and Defense Committee. As independent MPs, Mario Tagarinski and Todor Velikov have lost their Deputy Chair positions respectively in the Labor and Social Policy Committees.

Lyuchezar Ivanov said that the resignations of all seven vice-chairmen of parliamentary commissions from the Left had been handed in on Wednesday. They had withdrawn in protest against the decision to remove Emilia Maslarova as head of the social commission.

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