Bulgaria President's Spending Stirs Parliamentary Brawl

Politics » DOMESTIC | December 2, 2009, Wednesday // 18:25
Bulgaria President's Spending Stirs Parliamentary Brawl: Bulgaria President's Spending Stirs Parliamentary Brawl The leader of the conservative RZS party, Yane Yanev, told the Bulgarian MPs Wednesday that while Bulgarians are suffering, the “the President is leading a life of unimaginable luxury.” Photo by BGNES

The leader of the conservative “Law, Order and Justice” (RZS) party, Yane Yanev, proposed in parliamentary hall to reduce the allotment of Bulgaria's presidential institution by BGN 1 M.

The current amount is BGN 5,2 M a year. Yanev stated it was very important for the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB0 party, the rightist Blue Coalition and the far-right, nationalist Ataka to support the RZS proposal because “the President is leading a life of unimaginable luxury.”

The proposal came during the Wednesday discussion of the 2010 State budget, stirring heated arguments and forcing the Speaker, Tsetska Tsacheva, to announce an unscheduled 15-minute break.

Yanev said the only significant achievement of the President was the pardoning of the leader of the Euroroma party, Tsvetelin Kanchev, some years back. Kanchev was arrested Tuesday and is officially charged with extortion. Earlier Wednesday, the right-wing Blue Coalition demanded an apology from President Parvanov over the pardon.

The statements triggered a strong reaction from the opposition. Alexander Radoslavov from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) pointed out Parvanov has been elected by 2 million Bulgarian voters and their will must be respected and accused the Speaker of improper behavior in leading the debates.

Tsacheva countered that she didn't see anything wrong, and there were no insults against the President or his institution, adding what Yanev said was his personal opinion, which she did not share.

Tsacheva's predecessor, Georgi Pirinski, also from BSP, pointed out the Speaker can reproach a Member of the Parliament or even ask him or her to leave the plenary hall over insults directed at the Head of State.

In the meantime, Asen Agov, from the Blue Coalition, said they would support the RZS proposal.

“A vote of the Parliament is now a must so that we teach the President some modesty. He must understand that when the country is suffering shortages and people are in a dire situation, it is an unfounded luxury to spent BGN 2 000 – 3 000 on a hunting trip. In order to avoid exotic travels to exotic locations, the Presidential institution must pay their own transport expenses” Agov is quoted as saying.

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Tags: Yane Yanev, Tsetska Tsacheva, Georgi Parvanov, Georgi Pirinski, GERB, Blue Coalition, BSP, RZS, Yane Yanev, Asen Agov, Tsvetelin Kanchev

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