Bulgaria Govt to Propose Inquiry over President Transcript Scandal

Bulgaria’s governing GERB party will require the creation of a parliamentary committee of inquiry to investigate whether President Georgi Parvanov breached the constitution in the ‘transcript scandal’.

This comes following a meeting between Parvanov and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov after which Parvanov published the transcript of their conversation on his website. In Bulgarian law it states that “no citizen can be recorded without his knowledge or...except in cases provided by law”.

GERB representatives are said to have discussed the issue with Parvanov for 3 hours on Tuesday afternoon. GERB are also alleged to have decided in a meeting last night to publish a declaration of dispute ‘GERB-Parvanov’, which may lead to a parliamentary impeachment process against the President.

The conflict between Djankov and Parvanov flared up after the appearance of the Finance Minister in the talk show of the TV channel Nova Televizia last Monday night, where he was asked to confirm claims that the President is a “young billionaire” and has “dozens of luxury properties in the United States, Europe and Dubai.” Djankov immediately denied saying such things, but when the host reiterated the question: “Is the President a young billionaire?” the Minister replied: “He is definitely not young.” The very next day, Parvanov made an official call for Djankov’s resignation.

In an instant reply, the Minister denied any wrongdoing, but nevertheless and on the insistence of PM Borisov, who arranged a meeting between him and the President, agreed to try to iron out the “misunderstanding.”

On Friday, following the talks between the two, Parvanov published the transcript on his website triggering a wave of comments and criticism.