Draft amentments to the Interior Ministry Act will be put to a debate by full Parliament even though they were rejected by the internal affairs committee earlier this week, Bulgarian Parliament Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva has said.

Tsacheva has told private bTV station a reform is urgently needed at the Interior Ministry in line with efforts of Minister Rumyana Bachvarova.

The latter's proposal was overturned, with only representatives of the main ruling GERB party backing it, the socialist opposition being against, and others abstaining.

The development has fueled speculation that former Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who is thought to have many connections in the ministry since the time he headed it under Prime Minister Borisov's first term of office, sabotaged the vote by deliberately not mustering more support for the proposal.

Bachvarova's bill includes an overhaul to working conditions and benefits for people employed by the ministry, including police officers.

The ministry, which includes police, fire brigade units, and other structures, is Bulgaria's biggest employer with more than 50 000 people working for it, in a country of 7.2 million.

Speaking to bTV, Tsacheva also confirmed a referendum on the electoral system and state subsidies for parties would be help before or after the presidential election due this autumn.

A petition, introduced in February by a popular TV show, tabled a total of six questions for citizens to have a say.

Officials earlier this week announced the petition contained more than 572 000 valid signatures, which is much beyond the threshold of 400 000 which makes it binding for Parliament to set the date for a referendum.

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