© Julia Lazarova
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All political forces (as well as the president and the caretaker prime minister) have reiterated that they want a regular government and no recent elections, but also after the first working day of the 46th National Assembly it is difficult to confirm that it will be able to choose a cabinet. For now, all forecasts and discussions on whether and how it is possible are related to the first term that “There is such a people” will receive. And all interest is focused on the upcoming talks between Slavi Trifonov’s party and those of the protest, as well as whether there will be a discussion with the BSP, because the three formations gather 112 votes and will need more support with a regular quorum in plenary.
In the coming days and consultations with parliamentary groups under the President, followed by a date for the first term. It is possible that this will be as early as next week or at the beginning of the one that starts on August 2. It is expected at these consultations a date for the autumn presidential election should also be discussed. Meanwhile, on the first working day of the parliament, it became clear that the deputies would probably not have a summer vacation (on the idea of the old new chairwoman Iva Miteva), and 9 bills were submitted to the office.
Do you have an invitation from “There are such people”, or the most anticipated conversations
At the end of the day (July 21), Dnevnik confirmed through sources who requested anonymity that to have an official discussion on Thursday when and in what format the talks of “There is such a people” with the other parties will start. The information that the invitations themselves have already been sent by Slavi Trifonov’s party and to whom they have no official comment and confirmation. Other protest parties said they were expected because requests for dialogue had been made on the first day of parliament.
BSP MP Georgi Svilenski was the only one to officially announce to BNT that the party had received an invitation on Wednesday. Until now, “There is such a people” ranked the left among the parties of the status quo. According to analysts, however, BSP votes for their government would help minimize the role and support of the MRF and / or GERB (despite Boyko Borissov’s party’s claims on Wednesday that they would be in opposition).
The talks with “There is such a people” are expected to be only for politicians, moreover, that “Democratic Bulgaria” and “Stand up. BG! We are coming” commented several times that they are not interested in posts. For them, however, it will not be unimportant who is the next nominee for Prime Minister of Trifonov and the composition of the government.
On Wednesday, the name of former Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva was commented on as a next nomination among MPs from various political forces, but according to Dnevnik, she will not be nominated for prime minister, especially after Nikolay Vassilev’s resignation and the fact that both have ministerial careers in the same governments. Other names discussed in the National Assembly were those proposed by Justice Minister Petar Iliev and Rumen Cholakov of the Millennium Club, whose name has been mentioned in the media since the previous elections.
“There are such people”, however, they kept complete silence on the topic of who will be nominated for the next prime minister and ministers, as well as whether they remain part of the announced in their first draft government. According to Dnevnik, no new talks have been held with any of the caretaker ministers.
Government until August 5 or new elections
Government until August 5 with the mandate of “There is such a people” or new parliamentary elections – this is the main scenario in the official and unofficial comments of MPs on the sidelines.
The calculation for August 5 came after the statement of the deputy chairman (re-elected chairman of the parliamentary group) of “There is such a people” Toshko Yordanov that or within 14-15 days there will be an office with the first term, or will go to the third parliamentary elections of the year.
He said that when he received a mandate, the party would propose a cabinet and hold talks with “other colleagues” about his policies and the direction in which to push the country, although there were no differences between most parties on judicial reform or the main issue. prosecutor or for the “humiliating pensions of our mothers and fathers”.
For judicial reform, the three so-called The parties of the protest are similar in direction and big goals, but they have differences (according to their ideas so far) in the details (for example, the way of electing a chief prosecutor is important), the sequence and the deadlines. From the rostrum in his speech the BSP leader Cornelia Ninova confirmed support for closing the special courts and the special prosecutor’s office, on the need for control over the Prosecutor General and stated that they are in favor of a new law on the Anti-Corruption Commission (KPKONPI) and changes there, which for now can be seen as an opportunity for a thematic majority of the four parties on the subject, if they clear their differences.
The first test for a possible majority was on Wednesday when Iva Miteva was elected speaker of parliament – apart from “There is such a people”, her candidacy was supported by “Democratic Bulgaria”, but without Hristo Ivanov (he abstained, explaining this as a gesture to show that there is a need for dialogue before proposals and voting), was also supported by “Stand up.BG! We are coming!” and from the MRF. Only “BSP for Bulgaria” offered an alternative candidate Christian Vigenin, and according to unofficial information – the goal is to distance itself and not to copy agreements. The only one who voted against was Georgi Kadiev from the left-wing coalition, who also announced that talks should take place before that.
An office is possible
“There will be a government” – this is how MPs answered on the sidelines when asked which is the more possible scenario, although no one was sure with what support it would be elected and whether it would be through a reduction of the quorum if the talks between the parties do not lead to understanding. “Nobody wants an election” was the other repeated line, although the reasons are different.
AND Hristo Ivanov and Maya Manolova confirmed in answers to Dnevnik’s questions that the expectations are that there will be a cabinet with the first term and work will be done in this direction.. According to Ivanov, however, the new government should not become a “runaway bride”, ie. to be elected, but then to wonder how to gather majority for policies, and to be clear that there are “people in the government who can implement priorities”.
For “Democratic Bulgaria” these are the judicial reform, the removal of Ivan Geshev, the lustration, as well as the removal of the country from the crisis caused by the so-called Sarai model around the MRF. For “Stand up. BG! We are coming!” the priorities are raising incomes and pensions, business support and judicial reform, and Maya Manolova has no doubt that “there are such people” will propose “smart and honest people as ministers”.
“Everything is possible,” commented caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev in response to a question about whether there could be caretaker ministers in a regular cabinet.
The regular government was also requested by President Rumen Radev, who this time did not speak to the deputies, but only to the media. He announced that the caretaker government has started important changes and hopes that the regular cabinet, which will be elected by the National Assembly, will continue with the recovery of the statehood and the modernization of the country.
The three so-called protest parties have 112 deputies and although this is not a majority of 121, the government can only be elected by their votes if the quorum in plenary is lower, i.e. if not all MPs have registered at the beginning. However, a stable majority needs the support of another party.
The GERB-UDF group stated that they would be “strong, constructive and competent opposition”, and pointed out chaos as their enemy. On behalf of the MRF parliamentary group Mustafa Karadayi signaled that he would be watching carefully composing the new government without participating in the process, but not whether it would support a possible government, although it announced the need for one, and the moment as “historic”.
Only the BSP for Bulgaria announced that it was needed conversation between statesmen and expressed readiness to form a cabinet with the participation of caretaker ministers if he receives a third term.
What will the parliament do?
Parliament is likely to work without a break in August, and the first task has traditionally been the adoption of new rules and changes to texts, which now require proposals between the first and second readings to have opinions from NGOs.
The service ministers Yanaki Stoilov and Boyko Rashkov are expected to be heard on Thursday due to the request for the early termination of the mandate of the Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev, as well as for the wiretapping. The agenda should include the establishment of several temporary commissions – for the audit, for the Rosenets case and others.
On the first working day, the deputies submitted various bills – separately “BSP for Bulgaria” and “Stand up. BG! We are coming!” again offer recalculation of pensions, “Democratic Bulgaria” – to close the special court and the special prosecutor’s office, “Stand up.BG! We are coming!” – the protection bureau of the Prosecutor General to be closed, “BSP for Bulgaria” – BGN 650 maternity in the second year, etc.
A boring day
The first working day of the 46th National Assembly was far calmer than the unrest surrounding the opening of the parliament in April, and many of the events of the day gave the impression of deja vu – actions, people, voting were repeated. The representatives of “There is such a people” again arrived in formation in the National Assembly. Mika Zaykova opened the meeting and again won the sympathy with her speech (see the video at the end), although she was assessed as not as strong as in April, and then there were no such frequent witty remarks. The deputies sat in a slightly different way from the previous parliament, like “Stand up. BG! We are coming!” stand next to GERB, and “Democratic Bulgaria” next to “There is such a people”.
The election of the leadership of the parliament passed without additional debates and with only one change – Rositsa Kirova became deputy chairman of GERB. At the end of the sitting, the newly elected Speaker of the National Assembly Iva Miteva called for a joint photo in front of the building, but the deputies of “There is such a people” and GERB refused to join it. In the photo, however, is Iva Miteva herself. “This is the will of every MP. I personally did not participate because I do not want to be in the same picture with GERB,” Filip Stanev from “There is such a people” told Dnevnik, who this time did not stand in the front row until Toshko Yordanov, which made an impression. “It is my personally conscious decision,” commented Ekaterina Zaharieva of GERB, confirming her absence from the photo.
Zlatina Zehirova and Ralitsa Ficheva also worked on the topic.
Read all the most important things from the first plenary session of the 46th National Assembly here.
