Bulgaria Ethnic Turks Lose MP Seat over Recount of Turkey Voting

If the CEC recount is taken into account by the Constitutional Court, the GERB party will have 117 MPs and the DPS party - 37 MPs. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria’s ruling party GERB is supposed to get one more MP, and the ethnic Turkish party DPS – to lose one MP, according to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC).

The Electoral Commission announced Monday night the results of its recount of the votes cast in Bulgaria’s Parliamentary Elections in July 2009 in 23 polling stations in Turkey.

The CEC has concluded that the votes were miscounted, and the ruling party GERB should receive one more MP, whereas the DPS party (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) should vacate one MP spot.

The Commission acted upon an order of Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court. It is now up to the Constitutional Court to decide on whether the reshuffle in the Parliament should be implemented.

According to the CEC Spokesperson, Biser Troyanov, the reshuffle will lead to intra-party changes in the Parliamentary Groups of some of the other parties.

Thus, Atanas Semov from the conservative party RZS will be replaced by another of their candidates – Georgi Terziyski, and Ventsislav Varbanov will become a MP in place of Mariyana Darakchieva from the Blue Coalition. However, Varbanov is most likely going to be an independent as he got in conflict with the Coalition leadership in the months after the elections.

If the changes are approved by the Constitutional Court, the GERB party will have 117 MPs (still four short of an absolute majority), whereas the DPS party will have 37 MPs. DPS MP Rushen Riza from the Dobrich Electoral District is going to lose his seat.

After a recount of the votes in Ruse, Riza replaced Byurhan Abazov as a MP two months after the elections.

“I don’t even want to think of political pressure over the highest institution of Constitutional justice in Bulgaria and of the rule of law. It is obvious there is a political benefit for the GERB party from the recount of the votes cast in Turkey, but I think it is more than clear that this is an attack against the RZS,” said MP Atanas Semov from the conservative RZS Party who is supposed to lose his seat if the reshuffle is approved.

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