Deputies gathered today at the first meeting of the new winter session of the 49th National Assembly. The meeting opened solemnly with the anthem of the Republic of Bulgaria and the European anthem. People’s representatives from “Vazrazhdane” sat down during the performance of the EU anthem.
“We want the authorities to provide more information about what has been achieved, what has not been achieved, and what commitments have been made for our accession to Schengen. We believe that such a hearing is extremely necessary,” said Christian Vigenin from the BSP.
He also asked for a re-vote. “Regardless of the absence of Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel, Prime Minister Denkov is still here,” Vigenin recalled.
The re-vote was again unsuccessful and there will be no extraordinary hearing.
The draft program for the two plenary sessions this week includes the first reading of amendments to The Law on the Protection and Development of Culture and changes in standing committees.
A hearing is scheduled for the Chairman of the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, Ivan Ivanov, regarding the increase in water prices by an average of 15% from January 1, 2024. The request for a hearing was submitted by deputies from the “Continuing the Change – Democratic Bulgaria” parliamentary group.
The draft agenda includes the first reading of amendments to the Law on Vocational Education and Training, the Law on Recognition of Professional Qualifications, the Law on Higher Education and the Law on Preschool and School Education.
With a minute’s silence in the plenary hall, the deputies honored the memory of the late Sliven Metropolitan Ioanikiy and Father Boyan Sarev.
The Baptist of the Rhodopes, Father Boyan Sarev, died at the age of 67 on Stefanov’s Day, and the request for a minute’s silence in his memory was requested during the plenary meeting by the PG of “Vazrazhdane”.
Immediately after that, Yordan Tsonev insisted that the memory of grandfather Ioannikiy, who left the world of the living on January 9, and will be buried today, be honored.
“He was one an outstanding clergyman who tied his whole life to the service of God and people. A real hesychast monk, a clergyman who trained whole generations of priests and was by his people’s side in all the difficult moments,” said the MP from DPS.
A declaration on behalf of GERB was read by Temenuzka Petkova.
“During several election campaigns, our main motto has been stable political governance. However, political stability is only the basis, it is a means, not an end. Dear ladies and gentlemen, during the winter session we have a lot of important work ahead of us, so we must let’s make an effort within this session to outline a horizon that will minimize backwardness. I hope colleagues from the other political forces will approach with understanding. The direction of our behavior in the future will be the factors for successful management. By insulting each other, we are also insulting the Bulgarians citizens. Let’s conduct serious parliamentary control and adequate law-making”.
She outlined the two major tasks before the deputies in the past session – the adoption of the budget for 2024 and the constitutional reforms, reporting that both were successfully implemented. As the changes in the basic law also helped to form a large majority in the National Assembly.
The new goals before the parliament are to continue the work on the Recovery and Sustainability Plan and on the full membership of Bulgaria in Schengen and the Eurozone, as well as the election of members of the bodies whose mandates have expired.
Kiril Petkov issued a declaration on behalf of “We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria”.
He highlighted some of the main things that have been done in the past session.
“Achieving its goal for Schengen, Bulgaria will raise its standard in Europe,” he is emphatic.
“For the first time since joining the EU, people at airports will not feel second-hand. I hope land borders will be included soon. Change is happening, maybe more slowly, but it is happening. The fear of the Attorney General has also remained in the past. The change is also happening with the change in the expectations of the Bulgarians – the pensioners, the teachers. These are changes in the thoughts and expectations of all Bulgarians. For 2024, our idea is for it to continue,” said the co-chairman of the PP.
“We want to return people’s sense of justice and I hope that here, in this hall, our differences will be debated meaningfully and without attacks,” added Petkov.
Despite the calls for successful work, without insults in the plenary hall and a calm working environment, from Vazrazhdane, BSP and ITN, it seems that they did not listen to the words of their colleagues and continued in the same spirit in which they ended their meetings before the New Year.
“Bulgaria has been in an emergency situation for several years now. In the last few months and years, we have witnessed an extremely aggressive war against us, the Bulgarians – against our national memory, our history, our culture, against our national self-awareness.”
This was stated by the leader of “Vazrazhdane” Kostadin Kostadinov at the opening of the new parliamentary season.
In his words, our country is turning into a “battlefield in which a gang of self-styled marginal anti-Bulgarians allow themselves to insult the national dignity of our people every day, to turn us into a nation of mockery and mockery”.
Emphasizing the desecration of the monument to Count Ignatiev in the center of Varna, Kostadinov pointed out that the city remained within the borders of Bulgaria and did not remain an Ottoman port thanks to the efforts of the Russian diplomat.
A war is being waged with Bulgarian history, which is being falsified and filled with lies, stressed Kostadin Kostadinov.
“We narrowly missed the abolition of Bulgaria’s national holiday – March 3, but the attack on Bulgarian national symbols continues. The administration we have had in recent years is distinguished by one main feature: brutal and consistent anti-Bulgarianism, war against the Bulgarian people.”
There are people in this room who approve of this policy and who implement it, he added.
“There are people’s representatives in the hall who approve of what is being done against the Bulgarian national memory, who applaud these acts and encourage them.”
“The political crisis came in connection with the fact that the relationship between the politicians and the people is broken. Only the DPS ascertains this fact” – this is what Yordan Tsonev said in a statement on behalf of his parliamentary group on the occasion of the new session of the parliament. He stated that his party is already working hard to restore it.
The honorary chairman of the movement, Ahmed Dogan, also spoke about the broken relationship with the electorate, when on January 3 he proposed a new formula for managing the party – with two co-chairmen, Jevdet Chakarov and Delyan Peevski.
During the new session, the DPS promised to work for increasing incomes, strong support for municipalities, improving the conditions for doing business, full acceptance into Schengen and the Eurozone.
For us, 2024 should be the year of dismantling the assembly for the good of Bulgaria, said the chairman of the PG of “BSP for Bulgaria” and of BSP Cornelia Ninova in her statement for the opening of the new session of the 49th National Assembly.
We will continue because we are the only ones left, the fight against the backstage model and the parallel state, she said. For us, a stable economy, social policy and justice, for us education, healthcare and social policy are an absolute priority, noted Ninova.
The public space is saturated only with talks about rotation, which minister will drop out, what new one will be there, how the regulators will be chosen, commented the chairman of the BSP. According to her, the ruling majority has not betrayed itself and for six months it only concerned us with the distribution of portions in power, finding positions, and scandals among themselves.
The economic policy that this government preaches is pro-inflationary. This was stated by Toshko Yordanov from ITN at the parliamentary rostrum.
He stated that the hole in the revenue part of the budget at the end of last year was equal to the budget of Sofia, and the capital program was in unprecedented default.
“2023 ended with a hole in the revenue part of BGN 2.4 billion,” Yordanov pointed out.
According to him, Bulgaria is not in Schengen and there is no date on which this will happen.
He also pointed out that inflation in the country in November was 5.9%, which is about three times more than the permissible rate for entering the Eurozone.
“There is no real chance of joining the Eurozone,” he was categorical.
Deputies should complete the composition of state bodies, including the Constitutional Court, the SJC and the regulators – KEVR and CPC. This became known from a report presented at the beginning of this plenary session by Rosen Zhelyazkov, chairman of the 49th National Assembly.
The submitted report on the bodies whose mandate has expired and the National Assembly should hold an election, includes the election of nine members, including the chairman, deputy chairman and secretary of the Commission for disclosure of documents and for declaring the affiliation of Bulgarian citizens to the State Security and Intelligence services of the Bulgarian Army.
Members of the Commission for the Protection of Personal Data shall be elected on the proposal of the Council of Ministers; election of the chief inspector in the inspectorate at the SJC, election of ten inspectors in the Inspectorate at the SJC; election of two members to the Supervisory Board of the Agency for Public Enterprises and Control; election of the manager of the National Insurance Institute; election of two judges in the Constitutional Court; election of the Fiscal Council – five members, including the chairman; two vice-chairmen and two members of the Audit Chamber; election of the chairman of the Commission for Public Oversight of Registered Auditors and, on his proposal, four more members of the commission; Anti-Discrimination Commission – five members, including a chair and a vice-chair, Election of the chair and deputy chair of the Financial Supervision Commission, election of the chair of the Energy and Water Regulation Commission, as well as two members. election of seven members to the Commission for the Protection of Competition, including the chairman and deputy chairman; election of the National Bureau of Special Intelligence Control – five members, including a chairman and a vice chairman.
Election of the Supreme Judicial Council – five members, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, in the latest amendment, election of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Council – six members, according to the amendments to the Constitution, are also included in the provided reference.
Rosen Zhelyazkov also presented a report on the members of the bodies whose mandate was prematurely terminated, for which the National Assembly should also hold elections. These are the chairman and deputy chairman of the Commission for Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property. According to the report on unconstitutional bodies for which the parliament should hold elections, these are the election of three members of the Anti-Corruption Commission, the election of the chairman and members of the National Council for Bulgarians living outside Bulgaria.
The National Assembly listens to the chairman of the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation Ivan Ivanov. The petitioner for the hearing is Antoineta Tsoneva, a member of parliament from “Continuing the Change – Democratic Bulgaria”. She noted that the average increase in the price of water is 15 percent.
Tsoneva pointed out that the average price varies between three and six leva per cubic meter, with the biggest increase in Sliven – 41 percent, 30 percent increase in Vidin. In Razgrad, the price for a cubic meter of water will be BGN 6.10. Tsoneva raised the issue of the quality of drinking water, the efficiency that companies apply in managing the network and the social tolerability of the price. We believe that a very serious debate should be started on how water supply services will meet drinking water quality standards, waste water treatment standards and how KEVR ensures the fulfillment of these standards, said Tsoneva.
Before the hearing, the National Assembly adopted at first reading changes to the Law on the Protection and Development of Culture and voted on changes in the composition of some of its standing committees.
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2024-01-11 09:00:00
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