Bulgaria Socialists Slam Rulers for Disenfranchising Roma

Bulgarian socialists have warned that the Roma population and the socially underprivileged class would suffer immensely from the over-restrictive regime for issuing ID cards. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Extra requirements to the Civil Registration Act have prevented a large part of Bulgaria's Roma and socially underprivileged population from obtaining ID cards and receiving social benefits, according to socialist MP Maya Manolova.

Speaking in Parliament on Friday, she said that the issue was a problem of colossal proportions because these people were entitled to social benefits and yet could not access them due to the lack of identification documents.

After outlining the paradox, Manolova urged Interior Minister Tsvetanov to back the legal amendments she had tabled in Parliament.

"As a person who is knowledgeable about elections, I can tell you that, on a nationwide scale, you emerged winners because you got the highest approval from Bulgaria's Roma population," Tsvetanov told the left-wing MP, responding to her question about Bulgarian citizens who had not been issued ID cards.

The MP from Coalition for Bulgaria insisted that Iskra Fidosova, MP of center-right ruling party GERB and Chair of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, was not interested in how many Roma people would vote or would be left in the cold this winter and deliberately ignored the issue for personal reasons.

"Perhaps the Roma should come to you and complain in person, because you refuse to hear about it. It only matters to you that I tabled the proposed amendments," Manolova stated.

Tsvetanov suggested that Manolova's accusations were politically motivated and shed light on the   methods the party deployed to win the Roma vote.

He emphasized that the government was willing to implement a pragmatic policy in the sphere and that GERB remained open for an expert discussion.

"We can always reach a consensus on important matters," Tsvetanov concluded.

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