Verbal Fight Interrupts Bulgarian Govt Confidence Debate

(L-R) Interior Minister Tsvetanov and PM Borisov during Thursday's confidence vote debate in Parliament. Photo by BGNES

The Parliament debate on the confidence vote of Bulgaria's Borisov Cabinet got interrupted after Prime Minsiter Borisov and an opposition MP got into a heated verbal fight.

The debate, which started at 9 am on Thursday, was terminated for 30 minutes at 11 am, by Parliament Chair Tsacheva in order to ease the tensions on the floor.

The Cabinet has initiated the confidence vote in the wake of "Tapegate", a scandal with leaked scandalous tapes of senior officials' phone conversations, even though the authenticity of the recordings remains in question.

The debate was interrupted after Dragomir Stoynev, an MP from the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party, who is the head of the Parliamentary Committee on Labor and Social Policy, started shouting from the floor right after a statement by Labor Minister Totyu Mladenov.

Stoynev accused the government of total failure in the social sphere because of the low salaries and no increase of the retirement pensions.

He said the government increased the number of unemployed by 200 000 in one year, and accused it of controlling contraband.

"Dear rulers, please return the money from contraband. This is not your money, this is not money for buying election votes. These BGN 2 B are the money of the people," shouted the agitated Stoynev.

Even though the Chair turned off Stoynev's microphone, he and PM Borisov, several meters apart, started to exchange heated verbal accusations leading Tsacheva to declare a 30 minute break.

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