Bulgarian PM: Illegal Assets Bill Will be Passed Despite 'Inapt Wording'

Domestic | October 4, 2011, Tuesday // 13:16|  views

Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas welcomes Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov prior to talks to be held in Prague, October 04 2011. Photo by BGNES

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has assured that the the bill authorizing confiscation of illegally obtained assets without a conviction will be passed although the practice is not well looked upon in Europe.

Speaking at a meeting with the Bulgarian community in Prague, he explained that the wording of the bill, as set out in the recommendations of the European Commission, would be interpreted as a reinstatement of communism in many countries.

"Confiscation without a conviction. Yes, today it is us (who are in power) and there is threat to democracy. Tomorrow, if (the power is with) others and they seize your house, and still others return it to you in two years time in a dilapidated condition, who will pay for that?", Borisov cautioned.

"However, they have grown so afraid of Bulgaria over these twenty years that they are now saying: "no, we want it to cone into existence". Fair enough, it will be done. We shall put huge efforts to adopt it in this form. Although they are well aware that the situation is not exactly as stipulated. After all, in all rule-of-law countries it is the court which decides if you have done wrong, if you have obtained your wealth through illegal means, etc. But what we are about to do is leave out the conviction", the Prime Minister argued.

In a July 08 vote, the Bulgarian Parliament failed to pass the bill initiated by Justice Minister Margarita Popova allowing authorities to seize unexplained wealth worth over BGN 150,000, without a conviction as of January 1, 2012.

The Council of Europe's Venice Commission recommended this timeline after approving the final, fifth version of the draft law in the middle of June.

When asked about why the forthcoming presidential elections were so important about center-right ruling party GERB and if they should not be won by its opponents so that the government could operate within a system of checks and balances, Borisov replied with "God forbid we should lose the presidential elections - they will demand early elections on the very same day"

He also said that he had considered nominating a "neutral person" or supporting another party's bidder but had given up on the idea because "there is no political class here".

The Prime Minister expressed hopes that the new head of state would expose former State Security agents and would not veto acts whose adoption in Bulgaria was keenly anticipated by the European Commission.

By saying this, Borisov hinted at the veto President Parvanov imposed in end-July on legal amendments banning Communist-era State Security agents from taking up key diplomatic positions.

The presidential veto on the highly contested amendments to Bulgaria's Diplomatic Service Act, however, was rejected in Parliament, paving the way for the recall of the country's 35 ambassadors proven to have been collaborators of the communist regime's secret service – State Security, DS.

Asked about the fight against organized crime and how it was possible for one crime ring to have control over entire eastern Bulgaria, Borisov assured his audience in Prague that enormous efforts were being put towards ousting monopolies.

He explained that the government would convert the military airport in Bulgaria's Black Sea town of Balchik into a commercial civilian airport by the summer of 2012 in a bid to strip the Varna airport of its monopoly powers.

The Prime Minister reminded that the only way to fight monopoly power was to facilitate the entry of new players into the market, as he said was the case with airline companies.

"Lufthansa and Qatar Airways have already set foot on the market. Not long ago, it was only Bulgaria Air. This is the way to go". Borisov declared.

Regarding calls of nationalist party Ataka for the reintroduction of the capital punishment in Bulgaria, the Prime Minister commented that the political formation took such liberties because it knew that it would not come to power.

Borisov also noted that the proposal of Ataka leader Volen Siderov contradicted European values.

He also took time to advertise progress on infrastructure projects, saying that "Every day I leave 30 km of roads behind me".

The Prime Minister highlighted that Bulgarian infrastructure projects were being cited as examples in Europe by virtue of the fair and transparent procedures and implementation.

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


Tags: Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Czech Republic, Petr Necas, Prague, illegal assets, Margarita Popova, Georgi Parvanov, state security agents, Ataka, Volen Siderov, Presidential elections, GERB, Infrastructure projects, European Commission, venice commission

Back  

» Related Articles:

Search

Search