Bulgarian Parliament Halts Session on Friday Over Quorum Shortage

Bulgaria's parliamentary session scheduled for Friday faced cancellation as the Parliament Chairman, Rosen Zhelyazkov, halted proceedings due to the absence of a quorum. With only 68 out of 240 MPs present in the plenary during the second attempt, the minimum requirement was not met.

During the initial attempt, 65 MPs, predominantly from opposition parties like There Is Such a People, BSP for Bulgaria, and Vazrazhdane, registered their presence. The disruption stemmed from these three groups, as they impeded access to the rostrum during Thursday's session. Vazrazhdane's leader, Kostadin Kostadinov, emphasized that this was a firm stance against what he referred to as "lawlessness and totalitarianism" within the country's governance.

Today there was a boycott of the parliament by the ruling "non-coalition". During the two checks of the quorum WCC-DB, GERB-SDS and DPS did not register and as expected there was no quorum in the hall. So today's meeting never started. A series of emergency meetings is expected, as the small budgets on the floor, the big budget for 2024 must be passed on second reading in committee and on the floor by next Friday. In addition, the constitutional reform must also be adopted in the second and third readings.

Precisely because of the lot of work involved in the management program of the rulers, it is curious how today they did not stay behind and blame the meeting. In addition, less than 24 hours ago, WCC-DB co-chairs Kiril Petkov and Atanas Atanasov accused the three parties in opposition of putting a brake on money for health.

Kiril Petkov: The opposition asked to stop the dismantling in order to return to the hall

WCC-DB co-chairman Kiril Petkov told journalists that today they expected a "circus" from the opposition, which is why they decided to hold extraordinary meetings on Monday and Tuesday. A draft resolution for scheduling extraordinary meetings was submitted to the National Assembly secretariat yesterday by Petkov, Peevski and Borissov. In it, it was suggested that today be a day off, and that next week meetings should be held on the five working days.

On the eve of Christmas, the parliament is preparing to hold an extraordinary session

Kiril Petkov is of the opinion that the three parties are trying to seize the role of the executive power through the parliament.

"Their condition was that if we want to work, everything regarding the dismantling of the monument must be stopped. We do not accept such conditions."

Is there or is there no "united opposition"?

The three parties used the same argument today and, in front of journalists in parliament, accused the assembly of stopping the adoption of budgets. According to Stanislav Balabanov from TISP, the reason there is no meeting today is the Christmas parties of DPS and GERB. The MP from Slavi Trifonov's party stated that they will not allow the adoption of the amendments to the constitution, but will participate in the budget adoption sessions.

Kostadin Kostadinov announced that the work of the parliament will not start while "lawlessness continues". He, of course, refers to the dismantling of the Monument of the Soviet Army. Yesterday, the Sofia regional administration presented all the documents and permits for the removal of the monument to the presiding council. The leader of "Vazrazhdane" demanded a referendum on the dismantling and talked about the "united opposition".

Today, the "left" leader Kornelia Ninova appeared in front of the journalists in the National Assembly and made it clear that there is no united opposition. She is adamant that in certain situations their positions coincide, but that's all.

"The banquet beat the budget," Ninova said.

She announced that her group will participate in the adoption of the budget. No decision has yet been taken on the constitutional reform. Kornelia Ninova added that she expects the court to end the dismantling of the monument today.

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