Mariya Gabriel Demands Apology Amid Political Turmoil in Bulgaria (UPDATED)
Tensions flare in Bulgarian politics as Mariya Gabriel, the GERB candidate for Prime Minister, demands an apology for perceived insults and epithets directed towards her
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Daniel Valchev, former Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister and co-founder of the Bulgaria for Citizens Movement, has drawn attention to the fact that only 5 out of 212 officials appointed at the Council of Ministers over the past 3 years and a half won their job through a competition.
In a Tuesday interview for the morning broadcast of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), Valchev noted that Bulgarians were therefore justified in their concerns about whether the right people were in the right places.
He argued that the problem had grown more serious and spread beyond the sphere of government.
Commenting on the parliamentary elections in summer, Valchev predicted that the ethnic Turkish Movement of Rights and Freedoms (DPS) party would take part in a coalition, possibly with the right-wing Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) or "some other undead political project."
He said that this would give center-right ruling party GERB the opportunity to take part in government again, "this time seemingly without DPS."
Valchev noted that the new Chair of DPS, Lyutvi Mestan, was a "highly intelligent man" but added that the Bulgaria for Citizens Movement and DPS continued to have seriously divergent positions.
"I would not back a new nuclear power plant, although I support the development of nuclear energy," he added, commenting on the upcoming January 27 nuclear referendum.
"Even in the case of a "yes" answer to the referendum question, this government or the next one will hardly be under obligation to build Belene NPP. And in the case of a "no" answer, since the question involves a new nuclear power plant, the government may build a new unit at the Kozloduy NPP without obstruction," he declared, suggesting that the referendum was meaningless because the government would be free to do whatever it wished to, regardless of the public response.
On January 27, Bulgarians are to express their opinion on the development of nuclear energy in the country by answering the question "Should Bulgaria develop nuclear energy through the construction of a new nuclear plant?"
The referendum was called to decide the fate of frozen Belene NPP project.
The GERB government scrapped the Belene NPP project in March 2012, declaring it economically unfeasible.
Prime Minister Borisov suggested that the reactor earmarked for the project had to be moved to the Kozloduy NPP site.
The pro-Belene, opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, then launched a petition for a referendum on the Russian-Bulgarian project's fate.
The inspection of the petition recently concluded the 543 639 valid signatures are enough to make the vote irreversible.
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I feel no moral guilt towards anyone. This was stated by Kiril Petkov, answering a question whether he would apologize to the Bulgarian people for violating the Constitution.
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