Bulgarian Gov't Coalition MP Points to Possible Early Elections

Domestic | September 4, 2015, Friday // 12:29|  views

Nayden Zelenogorski. Photo by BGNES

A member of the Reformist Bloc, a loose coalition of right-wing parties which are part of Bulgaria's cabinet, has warned early elections should be considered as an option given the deadlock in Parliament on key legislation.

The comments of Nayden Zelenogorski, who co-chairs the RB's group in Parliament, comes just a day after lawmakers failed to adopt an anti-corruption bill which had been one of the main goals of the Bulgaria for the Citizens Movement (DBG), one of the three major RB parties.

PM Boyko Borisov's main ruling GERB party and the RB backed the bill, but it failed to pass after rejection by both the opposition and two coalition partners - left-wing ABV and nationalist Patriotic Front.

The bill foresaw the establishment of a new anti-corruption body uniting the Center for Prevention and Countering Corruption and Organized Crime (BORKOR) to the Council of Ministers, the Commission for Prevention and Ascertainment of Conflict of Interest and departments of the National Audit Office. PM Borisov has now vowed to resubmit the text in three months.

However, RB parties like the DBG are now warning that the inability to adopt anti-corruption legislation might have repercussions on the coalition's integrity.

Zelenogorski told private national NOVA TV station on Thursday that Parliament was now divided into "a pro-corruption" majority and an anti-corruption minority.

He hinted that the ABV, chaired by President (2002-2012) Georgi Parvanov, could hold certain interest in not backing the bill.

He also raised suspicions as to whether the DBG should remain part of the Reformist Bloc, a step he said would be discussed at the forthcoming national meeting of RB members.

RB parties have long competed to have a dominant role within the bloc, some calling for deeper unity among entities and other warning of diverging interests and leadership struggles.

Later on Friday, Georgi Parvanov warned of the risks stemming from an anti-corruption bill as it is, with a huge danger of "mass slander" against a number of politicians just for the sake of political purges and squaring of accounts.

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Tags: Nayden Zelenogorski, corruption, anti-corruption, Reformist Bloc, RB, Boyko Borisov, Borisov

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