/ world today news/ Today, April 6, the two private national televisions spent a lot of time on how the president and the official cabinet exceeded their rights by proposing a draft law to change the Electoral Code. This was not the work of an office.
It is interesting why the same TV stations about two and a half years ago, in the summer of 2014, called on the government of acting Prime Minister Prof. Georgi Bliznashki to prepare a draft law to increase the state debt. Even President Rosen Plevneliev called for such action, as terrible things were to come in the coming months and we had to be ready to meet that with a ready draft of a new debt law. No one said then that one should wait for the regular government to prepare such a project.
Why the approach and assessment for the same events is different is not difficult to guess, and it is not the decisive factor to be calm about the public interest.
Another problem arose. This government has been described by some as having the most dismissals and appointments, and this was not the work of a caretaker government. In this connection, the experts on duty were immediately found, who established a glaring need for a law that would regulate the activities of official governments. Some of the speakers were quick to point out that each of the caretaker governments had its own historical merits.
The true things in all this are very few.
It is easiest to refute the last statement. What historical merits can people who rule for three months have. The tale of contributions to history was created by Stefan Sofianski for his own premiership from 13.02.1997 to 21.05.1997. He had signed a memorandum with the IMF, with which he introduced the currency board and had done everything for its introduction. The truth is that the IMF had been proposing the introduction of a currency board since at least the beginning of 1996 through Mr. Deppler, but unfortunately the idea was not supported then by either the red government or the blue opposition. The currency board was introduced in 1997 by the National Assembly with the adoption of a new law on the BNB. We owe this extremely beneficial event for all of us solely to Mr. Depler and the IMF. It is worth noting the merit of some of the members of the BNB Board of Directors at that time /in my opinion mainly R. Avramov/ who did not accept the idea of the adviser to the president Petar Stoyanov, Prof. Steve Hanke, that the reserve currency should be the dollar.
The first action of the Sofianski office was to adopt a decree to increase the price of gasoline. I will also mention my dismissal from the leadership of the Economic Department of the Ministry of Finance / there were no directorates in the Council of Ministers at that time – author’s note/. I was replaced by my subordinate, a mechanical engineer by education. I put a lot of effort into his retraining and today he is popular as an economist. When they had to write an order for my release, I accepted the only possible wording, that I did not have the proper qualifications, even though I was a doctor of economics and a professor of finance. I promised my colleagues in the Legal Department that I would not litigate this order. This man nevertheless progressed as an economist, and today everyone accepts him as such, and I have credit for his growth, recognized by him as well. I mention this in relation to allegations of cuts by the current government. The truth is that everyone does it, because in our country it is accepted that this is how it is done. No law can stop this practice. It is part of the “chip” of most people. Here I will recall something else from those distant times. I was a cadre of the government of Philip Dimitrov. With the coming of the red government, there was strong pressure from “Positano” to remove me. Jean Videnov did not.
My experience as a participant in the first caretaker government appointed by President Zhelyu Zhelev shows that there is always pressure for dismissals and appointments based on the principle of “putting in our man”. I was also pressured all the time to remove the deputy minister in charge of taxes / then there was no National Revenue Service and the Ministry of Finance directly dealt with these issues – author’s note / I didn’t do it. There were other strange demands from the president’s advisers, but never from President Zhelev himself.
The first decision of the first caretaker government was dedicated to the then notorious thefts through assignments carried out between the group “Multigroup”, Kremikovtsi /then a state enterprise/, “Khimko” and their relationship with “Bulgargaz” AD. It was an attempt to save tens of millions of dollars in government funds. The draft decision was submitted by the Ministry of Finance, but it was supported by the entire composition of the government and, of course, by Mrs. Reneta Injova. Unfortunately, our solution didn’t work because experienced lawyers spun the cases for years.
I do not consider that we have done something historic with this. We minded our own business. I personally made a lot of enemies because it was clear that the initiative was mine. The introduction of a 10% fee income tax caused the same dislike. The law allowed for this taxation, but the long-needed regulation was absent. We made the ordinance and thus implemented the law. I mention these forgotten events to show the failure of generalizations about what the caretaker government can and cannot do.
The third official government was during the time of Mr. Plevneliev. It claimed historical credit for something that had been started by specialist economic publications. Wrote and adopted an ordinance that limited the decisions on management of available cash in banks of enterprises with state participation. In practice, this ordinance was fully implemented by the next regular government, which did not repeal it, as some had suggested. In my view, the problem of mismanagement of money in SOEs could be dealt with much more effectively if the management contracts of the CEOs were reviewed and clearly spelled out what is required of them if they wish to continue to run the companies in question. Unfortunately, again due to the “chip”, the executive directors of state-owned companies are determined on the principle of “our man” by all cabinets – no matter official or regular, and nothing else matters to this day.
The fourth government with Prime Minister Prof. Bliznashki, with its actions in fulfillment of the calls of the then president, is comparable to today’s legislative measures… Remember how Mr. Rumen Porozhanov, the Minister of Finance, was then asked to draft a law to update the budget and how he was urged on all sides to make this project. The morning blocks of television not only did not disturb and upset as they do now, but on the contrary, they insisted on it.
We can summarize – we are true to ourselves. Surely some will say: who are we, it’s only them – the bad rulers. The truth is different. Most of us tend to take advantage and demand violations and exceptions to rules and principles when it directly benefits them. This creates the general atmosphere that allows all this.
Therefore, today’s events from Dondukov 1 and 2 are not unknown, and new.
Let’s go back to the day April 6, 2017. One of the televisions this morning and the other in the evening questioned the dismissed director from the Ministry of Justice.
He willingly reproduces details of the conversations at the meeting with President Radev. The gentleman used the interest of the media to complain that he was dismissed from office and even reminded us that he is a descendant of Kuzman Shapkarev and Elisaveta Bagryana. My knowledge of the works and lives of our two famous artists leads me to think that they would not be charmed by the performances of their descendant.
All this, including many other problems related to the activity of the official office, require the following conclusions:
First, when someone is hired to take part in the government of the country, he must realize that he has to make a huge effort to acquire in a short time an insight into the laws, regulations and the way of administrative work. In the course of the work itself, to ask those who know, to use the huge administrative apparatus without solo improvisations.
Second, we know that a higher education is not required to become a minister, but the one who selects them must ensure that they have at least average intelligence. This is a guarantee that they will reconsider who and what they speak to. Good management practice suggests that only ministers and, as an exception, deputy ministers participate in impromptu meetings attended by the country’s president.
The attitude of the society shown through the media is also disturbing. Constantly repeating that the caretaker government is the president’s and that means he can and should meddle in their work on a daily basis is counterproductive. The president determines and appoints the ministers, but they govern by observing the laws of the land, morals and good manners.
This is the place to call attention to the erroneous, in our view, assertions that caretaker governments are superfluous because a resigned government can do anything. The entries in the constitution which set the order in this regard must be read carefully to understand their meaning and practical significance for the democratic conduct of elections and building of the country’s governance.
It would be good for any government that resigns, regardless of the reason, or when its term ends to draw up a mandatory statement of the implementation of the budget on a cash basis, as well as what was accomplished by its program when it took over. This report should be displayed on the official page of the Council of Ministers. This requirement should be included as a provision in the State Administration Law.
We must urgently demand through the media and numerous experts – regular participants in the discussions – that we read and hear a detailed management program when constructing the new government. I believe that Mr. Boyko Borisov and his ministers can present such a program based on the experience they have accumulated over the years.
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Prof. Hristina Vucheva, financier, deputy prime minister and minister of finance in the first caretaker government /1994-1995/ of Bulgaria after the changes in 1989. The analysis was made especially for the BGNES Agency.
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