© “Facebook” / Boyko Borisov
– By fining Kiril Petkov and refusing to fine Borissov, the CEC demonstrated unequal treatment of the two party leaders and personal biases to which it is not entitled.
Dnevnik republished by “De facto” the comment of lawyer Emilia Nedeva. He is on occasion yesterday’s complaint to the CEC for violation of the Electoral Code by GEPB leader Boyko Bopicov, who on leaving the section in Bankya attacked President Rumen Radev: “This blade we are facing,” and called for a vote for his opponent, Anastas Gerdjikov: “I sincerely hope that Bulgarians will show common sense – rector of the rectors.”
Lawyer Nedeva called on the CEC to show principledness, as in the case of Kiril Petkov, who was sanctioned in a row for his statement on the day of the election on November 14. , admitted by Boyko Borissov “. According to Nedeva, “the opposite would be a manifestation of a double standard and unacceptable bias.”
As a result, the CEC decided not to fine Borissov for illegal campaigning, although he found one. Nine members of the commission expressed the opinion that he should be fined, but five were against, and all CEC decisions are taken by a two-thirds majority. Dnevnik has learned that members of GERB and MRF were against the sanction, and one of the members of the former ruling party was absent.
Here is what lawyer Nedeva commented, the headline of “Dnevnik”:
The decision of the CEC was issued on 27 joined appeals and one signal submitted by the CEM. All of them are directed against the pre-election campaign carried out by Boyko Borissov, spread by electronic media, including BNT.
In its decision, the commission unequivocally established that a violation had been committed and that a political suggestion was made to support and disapprove a candidate, which should be seen as “election campaigning”.
The violation was indisputably established, but a majority of CEC members were missing to sanction it. The decisions of the CEC are taken by a majority of 2/3 and this is not the first to reveal problems with the quota party principle on which the CEC is composed.
The roll-call vote shows that CEC members from GERB and MRF opposed Borissov’s sanctioning. It turns out that the activity of a state body can be completely blocked on the basis of party bias, which cannot be overcome in the name of legality. One wonders whether the fine of Kiril Petkov for a much more innocent violation – announcing the name of his preferred presidential candidate on November 14, 2021, is the result of accurate application of the law or the lack of a quota in the CEC of the new party. ” We continue to change. “
In any case, with Petkov’s fine and refusal to fine Borisov, the CEC demonstrated unequal treatment of the two party leaders and personal biases to which it is not entitled.
This decision of the CEC, like many others, once again raises the question of changing the way the commission is formed. The quota principle of composition by parties represented in parliament creates conditions for partisanship, when the representatives of the individual parties do not show sufficient personal independence to apply the law and not the party order.
It is time to create a real professional election administration, for which independence should be a real principle, not just a normative declaration.
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