Bulgarian PM Downplays President Retirement Reform Veto

Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, is firm on the retirement reform and strict fiscal rules. Photo by BGNES

The State and Public Social Security Act and budget for 2012 will be passed in the Parliament without any changes, said Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov.

Speaking for TV7, Borisov commented on the veto on the Act, imposed Sunday by outgoing President, Georgi Parvanov, saying the retirement reform will be launched on January 1, 2012.

The PM accused the President of exercising his right to veto for political gains for his future project after leaving office. He stressed Parvanov did not want reforms and wished to maintain the status quo in order to turn Bulgaria into another Greece or take it back to the former Soviet Bloc.

Borisov stated that he wouldn't be surprised to see the retirement reform end in Constitutional Court, adding this was making the cabinet and the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, more ambitious in imposing strict fiscal rules.

"Precisely because of politicians like Parvanov, the European Council is now mandating these rules and changes such as the golden rule, or the Fiscal Discipline Pact. This makes me hope populism will soon disappear from political games," the PM stressed.

Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition, left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP (Parvanov was BSP's leader before being elected President) and former PM, Sergey Stanishev, declared this was not a retirement reform, but "holes' patching" that will have a shock effect on Bulgarians, who cannot even plan their lives. Stanishev pointed out that the veto and its challenge with the Constitutional Court have very solid grounds.

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