Bulgarian Parliament Obsessed with Corporate Legislation - Analysts

The Bulgarian Parliament is showing an increased tendency to adopt legislation under corporate influence, states an analysis by Bulgarian NGO Institute of Modern Politics.

Thursday the Institute (IMP) presented is regular report on the activity of the Bulgarian National Assembly, for the period June-July 2012.

"We are noticing an ever stronger "hidden" corporate agenda of Parliament and decreased transparency," stated IMP's director Borislav Tsekov.

Analysts pointed out amendments to the Forestry Act, the Tobacco Act, the Law on Excise Taxes, and others.

In those cases, the Institute's report argues, Bulgarian lawgivers snubbed public interest in favor of private ones.

"There is an increased need to carry out thorough public consultation before adopting legislation to integrate the interests of all stakeholders, and avoid protests by outraged citizens, such as we witnessed in the past months," said Tsekov.

IMP has also found that the Bulgarian Parliament's practices in appointing officials also lacked in transparency and objective criteria.

At the same time, the Institute of Modern Politics has noted positive developments in legislation relating to the safeguarding of human rights, in particular to the use of police force and surveillance devices.

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