Parliament supported the presidential veto on changes to the Law on Judiciary. And returned the bill for a new discussion at today’s re-voting in the plenary hall.
The provisions contested by the president are related to the separation of the National Investigation Service from the prosecutor’s office and the creation of an independent structure.
During today’s voting, the bill received 47 votes “for”, 66 – “against” and 93 “abstentions”, and for now the investigation remains in the structure of the state prosecution. At yesterday’s meeting, the Law Commission also supported Radev’s veto.
And suggested that the parliament not pass the law again.
In his reasons for returning the bill, the head of state emphasizes that the adoption of the contested provisions did not comply with the imperative requirement of the Constitution that the laws be adopted by the National Assembly with two votes. Important provisions in the Judiciary Act have not been observed. A number of provisions of the Rules for the Organization and Activities of the National Assembly have also been violated, the presidential institution believes.
Stoyu Stoev, the chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs and deputy of “We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria” (PP-DB), advocated the same thesis during the debates. “The proposals that were made between the two readings go beyond the scope of the discussed bill,” he commented from the parliamentary rostrum.
“The veto must be upheld because the contested amendments were passed in a poor legislative process that requires open discussion and consideration of everything. The vices of the legislative process, which we have seen in a series of National Assemblies, must be removed. Apparently, the issue of investigative bodies needs a solution, but this should happen after a complex debate. This debate is apt to take place after the amendments to the Constitution.
Let’s systematically approach this important issue correctly”, added Nadezhda Yordanova from PP-DB.
GERB-SDS also expressed support for the presidential veto. “Let’s use the return of this bill to hold a serious debate about the investigative bodies and make them independent and subject only to the law,” urged People’s Representative Branimir Balachev. According to him, there are a number of additional issues that need to be discussed.
Support for the presidential veto and the return of the bill was also received from the “BSP for Bulgaria” group. Party leader Kornelia Ninova pointed out that the amendments proposed by “Vazrazhdane” between the two readings of the previous legislative procedure were “written on the knee” and “dictated by GERB” without being discussed in the first reading. Then we voted against these changes and now we will support the president’s veto, argued the left.
There was protection of the texts from “Revival”. “The reasons for the veto were written by people who were just passing by the investigation building, “G. M. Dimitrov”, riding in the office car of the presidency”, according to People’s Representative Petar Petrov. According to him, the independence of the investigation from the prosecutor’s office will ensure its impartial functioning. “We will comply and revise our bill,” he pointed out.
During today’s meeting, the Parliament decided that four weeks would be the time frame in which a proposal can be made on the disputed provisions, which are returned for a new discussion in the Committee on Legal Affairs.
