Fierce political opponents unanimously slammed the campaign for nominating the death-sentenced medics in Libya for MEPs, as they registered their tickets for the upcoming vote.

"Imagine six hostages are promoted from privates to general. This would never set them free!," said Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev, who submitted the ticket of the European Socialists' Platform coalition.

The deputy head of the right-wing hardliners Democrats for Strong Bulgaria Vesselin Metodiev commented that it is wrong to capitalize on the medics' plight.

Yunal Lyutfi, deputy head of the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, called the act "immoral".

Bulgaria's centre-right party "Order, Rule of Law and Justice" officially presented its MEP runners' list to the central election body on Friday, topped by the five Bulgarian nurses and the only acquitted doctor.

The nurses, jailed in Judeyda prison and sentenced to death, occupy the first five spots. Georgiev, who was the only one acquitted, yet never allowed to return to his homeland, comes at number six.

Opponents say involving the medics in the upcoming MEPs elections poses a huge risk, as it is not realistic to expect all six medics getting elected, which may give a powerful advantage to Qaddafi.

Another problem is that existing legislation precludes Bulgarian citizens who have not lived in the country for the three months prior to the elections from voting or running for an MEP seat.

The five Bulgarian nurses have spent the past eight years in a Libyan jail and this prevents them from taking part in the upcoming May 20 elections.

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