A fine of BGN 300 and “the one honored by Harvard” is innocent
The former caretaker minister filed a false declaration before entering the cabinet
He would present a certificate to the Constitutional Court by October 9
Kiril Petkov admitted that he lied to President Rumen Radev about dual citizenship. He said he did not feel guilty and would not bear any political responsibility.
“When I took office as a minister, I signed a declaration that I am only a Bulgarian citizen, because I believe that on April 21 I renounced my Canadian citizenship,” Petkov told BTV. Before “Trud” lawyers were adamant that the act of filing a declaration violated the Constitution and the Penal Code. The act of submitting a declaration with false content is punishable under Art. 313 para. 1. The text provides for a fine of up to BGN 300 or imprisonment for up to 3 years.
Petkov, who wants everyone in his project to sign declarations of integrity, announced without hesitation that he had declared to Rumen Radev that he did not have dual citizenship, even though he did not have a document to that effect. He also said that he did not inform the president explicitly: “What I did was just give my declaration.”
“On April 21, I submitted all the documents for renunciation of my Canadian citizenship, this is the date of my declaration of intent. Then I gave up as a Bulgarian citizen. The Canadian state initiates an administrative procedure that usually lasts between 4-8 months and when it will issue this note is the job of the Canadian Administrative Service. I already know that the date is August 20. I believe that as a Bulgarian citizen I have done everything in my power not to be Canadian after April 21 “, explained the former Minister of Economy.
Asked whether he would bear political responsibility if the Constitutional Court (CC) ruled that he had been appointed caretaker minister in violation of the constitution, as he had dual citizenship, Petkov said: “I do not feel guilty because I did everything that depended on me. I will not take any responsibility. I believe in myself that I did the best I should have done. “
“They threaten me with criminal liability, with 3 years in prison, I do not feel guilty in myself,” said Kiril Petkov.
He assured that by October 9, he would present to the Constitutional Court the certificate requested by the magistrates that he was not a Canadian citizen (according to his statements from August 20).
According to the legislation for termination of citizenship, the date of the document with which the respective party certifies that the person is no longer his / her citizen is accepted.
“Due to the public law nature of the institute of citizenship, related to significant legal consequences, the subjective assessment on the issue of acquisition and loss of citizenship of another state is of no legal significance. It is not enough to have the material legal preconditions for release from foreign citizenship. It is necessary to carry out the procedure provided by law, which ends with the issuance of a relevant state act, “said the Constitutional Court in a decision of 1995.
Assoc. Prof. Natalia Kiselova, Doctor of Constitutional Law: Petkov happily handles numbers
It is not the subjective feeling, but the legal framework, that determines when a person is released from citizenship. The document may say that he was released on August 20, but I can say that the procedure started then, right?
Petkov handles the numbers quite cheerfully.
In one of Rosen Plevneliev’s caretaker governments, one of the candidates for caretaker ministers, literally 2 hours before the presentation of the cabinet, found out that he had dual citizenship. I was an adviser to the presidency and when we give them the declarations, we explain to each one individually and one says: I have dual citizenship. Then Plevneliev called another man and told him: Go buy a suit, become a minister. He shouts: I have to ask my wife, and Plevneliev told him to ask her while she was buying her suit.
I said this to show that before Petkov, there were such cases in the presidency.
The fact that Petkov will file a document by October 9 does not mean that the court will rule immediately. The court can also rule after the election. But Petkov must submit lists to the REC by October 12. So he’s chasing that deadline.
If it turns out that Petkov was a caretaker minister with dual citizenship, then President Radev will also suffer political damage.
They signed contracts with Manolova and Ivanov
Ministerial posts are already being handed out in the official project
Kiril Petkov announced that they are about to sign a “document” (it is not clear exactly what) with Hristo Ivanov and Maya Manolova.
Our first partners are “Democratic Bulgaria” and “Stand up BG! We are coming”. There we have the clearest thesis for joint action and we even plan to sign a document that will turn into a coalition after the elections, “Petkov announced.
“We will call it the principles of future governance, in which we will put all the important things for us – not to raise taxes, change the chief prosecutor, health and education to be the main priorities. No one who votes for one of these three parties should wonder what will happen after the election. Yes, we will appear in the form of a coalition, “he added.
Petkov said they were open to talks with “There are such people”, but they would not be in a hurry to sign with them before the elections.
The former caretaker minister also hurried to hand out ministerial posts.
“I would be very happy for the Ministry of Justice to be headed by a Minister of Democratic Bulgaria, because there is a lot of capacity for an independent judiciary.” In social activities I would be very happy to be on “Stand up BG! We are coming “, they have a very strong left focus on social activities”, said the leader of “We continue the change”. According to Petkov, it would be good for the Minister of Transport to be a businessman whose company is one of the best rated in Bulgaria.
“In a dream world for me, which I think can be realistic, there are 121 deputies in parliament, Rumen Radev to remain president, and Lozan Panov I would be very happy to see him as chief prosecutor,” he added.
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