Bulgaria President Parvanov against Presidential Republic

Politics » DOMESTIC | July 31, 2009, Friday // 16:39
Bulgaria: Bulgaria President Parvanov against Presidential Republic Bulgaria's acting President Parvanov (right) and the new PM Borisov (left). Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's acting President, Georgi Parvanov, declared himself Friday against changing the country's form of government from a parliamentary republic to a presidential one.

Parvanov's statements came after the last several days saw increased public rhetoric about the introduction of a presidential republic by public figures including Bulgaria's former President Zhelyu Zhelev (1990-1997), who said the newly elected Prime Minister Boyko Borisov should seek to establish and then head a presidential republic in Bulgaria.

"I think we should not remove this constitutional arrangement that has been installed during the Bulgarian transition. It is working. Talking about the convention of a Grand National Assembly in order to change the Constitution in a time of crisis means a waste of political resources needed for anti-crisis measures", Parvanov said in the city of Veliko Tarnovo as quoted by Darik Radio.

The President reminded that he had declared his position in favor of preserving the parliamentary republic in Bulgaria a number of times but that he also favored increasing some of the president presidential powers.

In his view, such measures should include giving the President the right to call a referendum, requiring a higher number of MP votes in order to overrun the presidential veto, and maybe the right of legislative initiative.

Parvanov also said Bulgaria did not need any more "lustration" laws, i.e. banning persons connected with the former communist regime from certain positions.

"A lustration campaign is fighting a class war 20 years after the beginning of the transition, and is totally unnecessary for Bulgaria in a time of crisis when we need a consolidation of the society, instead of new lines of division", the President said.

 

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Tags: Georgi Parvanov, Bulgaria President, presidential republic, parliamentary republic, Grand national assembly, constitution, Zhelyu Zhelev, Boyko Borisov

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