Bulgaria Ethnic Turkish Party Opposes President Impeachment

The DPS Deputy Chair, Lyutvi Mestan, sais his party does not see any constitutional or legal basis for impeaching the President. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) party broke the silence Tuesday and declared they oppose eventual impeachment of President Georgi Parvanov.

The DPS Deputy Chair, Lyutvi Mestan, said his party does not see any constitutional or legal basis for such move, with the motive the issue is purely moral and for this reason the ethnic Turks do not want to act as moral police.

The topic of Parvanov's impeachment was put on the table after the President published the transcript from his Friday talk with Deputy PM, and Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov. The unprecedented move triggered calls for impeachment from the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party and the rightist Blue Coalition.

Until now DPS failed to comment on the issue, but Mestan said Tuesday that GERB's position would hold water only if Djankov and Parvanov had a conversation as private individuals and previously agreed to not make it public. According to DPS, the meeting was one between institutions thus it is subject to becoming public.

“We offer this opinion with great displeasure, because this issue is not Bulgaria's priority today,” Mestan is quoted as saying.

Regarding earlier warnings coming from Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, that he is ready to resign, the DPS Deputy Chair pointed out that Borisov had received very strong support during the summer general elections and instead of carrying his resignation in his pocket, must carry the overall responsibility for the country.

The conflict between Djankov and Parvanov flared up after the appearance of the Finance Minister in the talk show of the TV channel Nova Televizia Monday night, where he was asked to confirm claims that the President is a “young billionaire” and has “dozens of luxury properties in the United States, Europe and Dubai.” Djankov immediately denied saying such things, but when the host reiterated the question: “Is the President a young billionaire?” the Minister replied: “He is definitely not young.” The very next day, Parvanov made an official call for Djankov’s resignation. In an instant reply, the Minister denied any wrongdoing, but nevertheless and on the insistence of PM Borisov, who arranged a meeting between him and the President, agreed to try to iron out the “misunderstanding.” On Friday, following the talks between the two, Parvanov published the transcript on his website triggering a wave of comments and criticism.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!