“I believe that we stand before each other with a clear awareness of the responsibility we bear to Bulgaria. Only through dialogue can trust be built between partners. The challenge now is to conduct such a dialogue that fulfills the words ambition, authority, and commitment with content. Forming a working government is the first step in this direction and the number one priority. We are looking for a basis for a working pro-European government with clear goals to achieve it.”
This was said by the GERB-SDS candidate for Prime Minister – Maria Gabriel, at a meeting with representatives of “We continue the change” – “Democratic Bulgaria”.
Members of the prosecutor’s collegium of the SJC propose an early release for Geshev
“Different interpretations of my words about the resignation of the Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev have been heard. The first thing we will do is submit a request for the dismissal of the Prosecutor General. This request is not a personal change, but a return of trust in the institution of the Prosecutor General. This would was an important step and a request for a comprehensive judicial reform. We need to strengthen the sense of justice in Bulgarian citizens,” emphasized Gabriel.
Sharp dispute in the National Assembly: Has the “gentleman’s” agreement between GERB and PP-DB been violated?
She again indicated the priorities she will work on if she is elected Prime Minister: creating a functioning government and normalizing the work of the institutions; stabilization of public finances and adoption of a budget for 2023; justice reform; dealing with inflation; admission of Bulgaria to the Eurozone; overcoming the two-year delay in operational programs; improving the security of Bulgarian citizens – overcoming domestic crime and war on the roads; modernization in the field of education, science, innovation, culture, in strategic sectors related to the green and digital transition, including digitization of the public sector; overcoming regional disparities through targeted action to stimulate skills according to the needs of the labor market; protection and improvement of health with an effective health policy, effective participation of Bulgaria in the European mission to fight cancer and the action plan to fight cancer, dealing with the challenges of prevention, access to treatment, as well as new technologies and precision medicine.
In turn, the co-chairman of “Continuing the Change” Kiril Petkov thanked for the invitation to talks. He said they are familiar with the ten points and have reviewed them carefully: “We see that many of our priorities in the general program are embedded in these ten points.”
The co-chairman of “Democratic Bulgaria” gen. Atanas Atanasov spoke on the topics of security and defense.
“We are all concerned about the state of the country and we say that we want to overcome the political crisis, I hope we succeed,” he said and singled out the war in Ukraine as the biggest challenge in the world at the moment, pointing out that in the 48th National Assembly, although difficult, certain decisions were made for which both political forces voted unanimously,” Atanasov reported.
He asked Gabriel about the information that Ukraine had requested 155 mm shells, but Bulgaria had refused: “How will your government act?”
Gabriel replied that he wanted to have a government with a clearly stated Euro-Atlantic orientation.
“Decisions are not made by one person. A mechanism can be found, there are opportunities for things to happen in a short period of time,” she pointed out.
Desislava Atanasova from GERB stated that at the moment “we do not know if there is a request from Ukraine to Bulgaria for ammunition. What we do know is that this is a European initiative. Bulgaria does not have 155 mm shells, it has 152 mm”.
The co-chairman of “Democratic Bulgaria” Hristo Ivanov asked the GERB candidate for prime minister what constitutional changes the party envisages and how it will secure the political resources for their change.
“The topic related to justice is extremely important. The goals of resolving the political crisis and creating a working government. These two things are connected. It is not a question of finding votes to elect a government. The big problem is that the Bulgarian political class cannot to fulfill the promise to live in a country with laws. People see lawlessness and brazen corruption. They do not trust institutions and politicians,” said Ivanov.
According to him, we must seek a solution to this crisis in depth.
“I am glad that you made bold requests in this direction. I was impressed by the request to take action against the chief prosecutor. It is very important here to know what it is about. Do you see the replacement of Ivan Geshev as he was appointed or is this the beginning of renewal and deep changes. We cannot talk about a significant change in justice if we do not talk about changes in the Constitution and the model of the SJC. The point is not to replace one facade with another, but for the changes to be profound,” said Ivanov and congratulated Maria Gabriel for the civic prowess of running for Prime Minister.
Gabrielle herself expressed readiness to continue the talks in detail. She emphasized that as a person coming from Brussels, she is proud that she does not know the negative phenomena characteristic of our reality.
“But I know what the Bulgarians want – a sense of justice. For me, there are rules and transparency on key topics. Everything that happens must be in compliance with the powers. We are talking about constitutional reform. You are an extremely fine connoisseur of the system, and that is why we are looking for support. We’ll leave the details to the experts,” Gabriel said.
Desislava Atanasova pointed out that reforms can only be implemented with a majority. “The more important conversation is how long is the life of the 49th National Assembly. If this life is limited and the first exploratory mandate is not realized, whatever good intentions we have to work together, there is no way to realize them. Will we give time to the 49th parliament and will we broadcast a government and a majority?” she said.
“Obviously, you will not participate in a cabinet, you will participate in the parliament, in the voting of various laws. Hopefully there will be no elections, the results will be the same,” announced Delyan Dobrev from GERB. He asked to know if they would vote differently than PP and DB on the budget and other topics.
Asen Vasilev asked to know what financial policies Gabriel’s government will pursue.
Temenuzka Petkova answered: “Today marks 2 years since Bulgaria’s public finances were not managed according to the European model. Bulgaria was given as an example, the country with inflation between 0 and 2%, with the lowest deficit in July 2020 as well. entered the Eurozone’s waiting room”.
She clarified that our country was put in the waiting room of the eurozone by the PP GERB.
“I’m sorry that you were not in the hall today to hear what the Acting Finance Minister Rositsa Velkova said. You know exactly what you did to reach these results,” Petkova addressed Vassilev.
“Last year we listened to these forecasts of a 6% deficit, they did not come true because enough taxes were collected and because Bulgaria became the first in the EU in terms of export growth. You voted for this budget and you raised spending by 800 million, so if we’re talking about populism, you can look at the bank across the street,” answered Vassilev.
Meanwhile, GERB leader Boyko Borisov appeared at the meeting.
“The first conclusion from this meeting is that we have so much in common that it is a sin not to form a government. In the name of Bulgaria, a cabinet can be formed. We can have a wonderful Council of Ministers,” said Borisov.
He stated that he came later to the meeting between GERB-SDS and PP-DB to show that there are enough people in the GERB party who can conduct negotiations and called on PP-DB to sleep and think again.
“In months, we can take Bulgaria to a completely different level. There is nothing worse than these caretaker governments. We are ready for any compromises in order to have a working government. Don’t be fooled that our voters prefer elections”, emphasized the leader of GERB.
For his part, the co-chairman of the PP Kiril Petkov stated:
“It matters whether at this moment we can have a normal dialogue for solutions. It is very important to be consistent and principled. What we tried to do during these few weeks of negotiations, we worked on a legislative program, is the normal, the European. We made a gentleman’s stipulation, we chose Mr. Rosen Zhelyazkov. We all know that today we need a head of the legal commission, and today the second part of this deal did not come. The issue is the cases.”
“How are we going to believe that Mr. Geshev will be replaced? In order to be trusted, there must be real results, real actions, and fulfilled agreements. And you do not trust us, and we do not trust you. If the first agreement is not fulfilled , how can we believe the second one?” asked Petkov and added: “Today, at the legal committee, GERB voted against including the item in the parliament’s agenda”.
In the end, the co-chairman of “We continue the change” – “Democratic Bulgaria” stated that the national bodies of the coalition will discuss the results of today’s meeting and “we will keep the commitments we have made”.
2023-05-12 15:54:19
#PPDB #met #Maria #Gabriel #agree
