Justice Minister Nominee Meets with Parties of Bulgaria's Ruling Coalition

Candidate for Bulgaria's new justice minister Ekaterina Zaharieva. Photo: BGNES

The candidate for Bulgaria's new justice minister, Ekaterina Zaharieva, started on Thursday talks with the parliamentary groups supporting the coalition government.

The largest ruling party GERB is the first to have a meeting with Zaharieva, who will later hold talks with the two parties supporting the ruling coalition – the Patriotic Front (PF) and the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV).

The junior coalition partner – the Reformist Bloc (RB), is the last to meet the candidate.

There have been splits within RB after the resignation of Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov last week.

Ivanov resigned due to the failure of parliament to adopt all the amendments to the constitution concerning the reform of the judiciary, which had been proposed by him.

In particular, he was discontent that MPs did not approve the distribution of quotas within the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS), which had been proposed by him.

One of the parties constituting RB – Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) withdrew its support for the cabinet, but DSB member and Health Minister Petar Moskov retained his position in the government.

The other parties constituting RB have reaffirmed their support for the government.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov presented Zaharieva to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday and parliament is to vote on her nomination on Friday.

Following the tensions in the ruling majority, the parties are expected to reformulate the coalition agreement, with an annex to the agreement likely to be signed in January next year.

According to Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova, the annex will outline the next steps in the judicial reform.

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