Sofia Weekly (published by Sofia News Agency, novinite.com)

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Bulgaria President Wants 'Preventive Deficit', Reboot of Anti-crisis Policy
Bulgaria President Georgi Parvanov has stated in a special press conference that the country needs to re-evaluate its anti-crisis policy. Photo by BGNES

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Bulgaria President on Impeachment: I Am under Attack by Ruling Majority

Bulgaria's ruling majority is attacking the Presidency in order to establish its unilateral style of government, according to President Georgi Parvanov.

Parvanov spoke at a special news conference Friday which was dedicated to his ideas about the anti-crisis measures of the country.

However, the questions after his statement focused on the procedures that the ruling rightist majority start to impeach him over the publication of a transcript of his conversation with Finance Minister Simeon Djankov last Friday.

The conflict erupted after at the beginning of last week, Djankov hinted in a Nova TV talk show that Parvanov was "a secret billionaire". When asked if the rumor was true that Parvanov was a "young billionaire", Djankov retorted that Parvanov was "certainly not young." After the conciliatory meeting between the two failed, and the Presidency published a transcript of it on its website, the ruling party GERB and its allies started an impeachment procedure claiming that Parvanov had violated the Constitution by taping Djankov and releasing the transcript.

"The demand for my impeachment is nothing new. We are probably about to get the world record in the Guiness Book for demands to impeach the President," Parvanov said.

He reminded the first motion to impeach him in November 2009 when the pretext was the fact that he refused to seal the recall of Bulgaria's Ambassadors to Turkey and the USA who were found guilty of allowing voting violations.

"Back then I thought that they could hardly think of a more ridiculous pretext to demand my impeachment but I now I admit I was wrong. I do not have - and I do not wish to have - any personal relations with Mr. Djankov. But the best way to expose the truth to the public was to public the transcript from our conversation," President Parvanov declared.

He said all of his actions were entirely legal, and asked how come his release of the transcript was problematic while the release of the records of the Stanishev government by the Borisov government was not.

Parvanov believes that with the impeachment motion, the ruling majority is trying to shift public attention from the series of lies targeting the Presidency.

"They talk about protecting Minister Djankov's dignity. I have not used a single offensive word in the entire conversation. I have never insulted individuals or entire social groups. We should not forget how many new words have appeared in the Bulgarian political lingo thanks to certain people," the President said apparently referring to Prime Minister Borisov.

He has expressed his belief that the transcript episode and the conflict with Djankov is just a pretext for the ruling majority consisting of the GERB party and their allies from the nationalist party Ataka and the rightist Blue Coalition, and that it would have come up with another one if that one was not available.

"Minister Djankov is the ideologist of this government, and there is clearly a lack of success with respect to the anti-crisis measures. Let me say this clearly. I want the Cabinet of Boyko Borisov to succeed. But I don't want to see them look for an enemy elsewhere when the person to blame is clear," said Parvanov.

"The aim of this whole thing is to keep the President in check, and to instill fear in various social groups - doctors, scientists, agricultural producers. The aim is to maintain this unipolar model of power in order to prevent the appearance of alternative opinions," he vowed.

Parvanov slammed particularly the Co-Chair of the Blue Coalition, former PM Ivan Kostov, for instigating the attack against him saying that the Borisov government was falling prey to its own increasing "kostovization".

"Mr. Kostov said they will teach me my place with the impeachment vote. Wrong guess. My place has been decided by 2 million voters, which, I think, is more than the combined votes of all actors in the rightist majority," declared the President.

Parvanov made it clear he could not engage in dialogue with the government "under the shadow of the impeachment ax." He said he had not caused a conflict and had no intention of seeking conciliation because of that.

"I have the feeling that instead of keeping his resignation in his pocket, as he promised, the Prime Minister is keeping impeachment demands in all of his pockets," the President joked.

However, Parvanov did mention that in his view PM Borisov might have been misled by people in his party and his rightist allies.

He reiterated his conviction that the participation of Finance Minister Djankov in a talk show on Nova TV where he hinted Parvanov was a "secret billionaire" was a carefully staged plot against him; he said it was unacceptable for a minister to talk about the Presidential Institution the way he did.

The President reject the idea mentioned briefly earlier by PM Borisov that they can both resign and go to early elections.

"This idea for early elections with my resignation is a legal impeachment because I do not have the right to run for President for a third term," he said.

Parvanov explicitly slammed Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov for the hypocrisy in his statements and actions, and stressed that the economic crisis in Bulgaria will continue until Simeon Djankov remained the Minister of Finance.

"Don't ask questions if you are not getting answers," the President said when he was asked at the very end of the news conference once again about the release of the problematic transcript. He repeated his earlier statement that his actions were entirely legal, and declared he would love to release the transcript of his talks with Vladimir Putin, if that was legally possible, in order to demonstrate how he defended Bulgaria's national interests in the relations with Russia.

161 votes out of 240 are needed for the Parliament to rule in favor of impeaching Parvanov; with the conservative RZS party deciding to back the motion despite its conflict with the ruling GERB party, the rightist majority will have 162 votes. Once approved by the Parliament, the impeachment motion will go to the Constitutional Court, which has the final word. Four of twelve judges on the Court have been appointed by Parvanov during his time in office since 2002.

US State Dept Report: Bulgaria Corruption Still 'Pervasive' despite Progress

Bulgaria still faces "pervasive corruption" even though its new government has started to tackle it, says the 2009 Human Rights Report of the US State Department.

The document, which was released late on Thursday, points to a number of issues that Bulgaria is yet to make progress on as far as human rights are concerned.

The US State Department Report summarizes Bulgaria's problems as follows:

"There were problems with police abuse and mistreatment of pretrial detainees, prison inmates, and minorities; harsh conditions in prisons and detention facilities; and official impunity.

There were some limitations on freedom of the press; discrimination against religious minorities; and pervasive government corruption in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.

The new government took initial steps to address corruption, and progress was made by year's end. Other problems included violence against women and children, and substandard education for Romani children; harsh conditions in state-run institutions for children; trafficking in persons; discrimination against persons with disabilities; and discrimination against minority groups."

The Report does mention the reports of vote buying during Bulgaria's 2009 elections, and the last-minute changes to the electoral legislation carried out by the Stanishev government.

It also includes information about several scandals which rocked Bulgaria in 2009 - inlcuding the affair with the abuse of power by the State National Security Agency DANS, and the fact that in the fall of 2010 it was made responsible only for domestic intelligence.

"The National Intelligence Service and the National Protective Service, which answer to the president, continued to operate in the absence of judicial, executive, and legislative oversight," the Report states.

It emphasizes some issues with media freedom in Bulgaria including the affiliation of some media with business and political interests and the fact that media in the country could be susceptible to economic and political pressure.

"Corruption was pervasive in the country and plagued all branches of government. Corrupt practices included bribery, EU funds fraud, elaborate embezzlement schemes, legislation protecting private interests, and official protection for organized crime figures. Corruption reportedly was severe in high civil and administrative courts," the US State Department concludes.

The Report reminds of the scandal with "Krasio the Black", "an influence broker who allegedly claimed he could sway eight to 13 of the Supreme Judicial Council votes needed to obtain a high-level judicial appointment in exchange for EUR 200 000."

While saying that Bulgaria has made some progress with regard to the European Commission's criticism about the absoption of EU funds, the US State Department also mentions the lack of progress on the notorious SAPARD draining case and the trial of the Nikolov-Stoykov Group.

"Societal discrimination continued, particularly against women, sexual minorities, and ethnic minorities. Trafficking in persons continued to be a problem", the report on Bulgaria's human rights situation concludes.

Full Text of the US State Dept Human Rights report on Bulgaria READ HERE

Archaeology

Bulgaria Archaeologists, Architects Move to Save Cybele Temple

A commission of archaeologists and architects is set on securing a National Monument status for the temple of Greek goddess Cybele in Bulgaria's Balchik.
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Abadzhiev Nominated as Bulgaria Nabucco Representative

Former member of the RZS party leadership, Dimitar Abadzhiev, has reportedly been nominated to represent Bulgaria in the Nabucco Gas Pipeline International company.
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World


	13 Mar 2010 \| Issue 181 \| Sofia: min -1°, max 6°; Varna: min 0°, max 7°

Finance \| Environment \| Diplomacy \| Business \| Energy \| Defense \| Society \| Industry \| Culture \| Bulgaria in EU \| Sports \| Properties \| Domestic \| Archaeology \| Tourism \| Crime \| Show Buzz \| Interview \| Views on BG \| Editorial \| Smile \| World \| In Pictures