Bulgaria Government Starts President Impeachment Process

Politics » DOMESTIC | March 10, 2010, Wednesday // 10:42
Bulgaria Government Starts President Impeachment Process: Bulgaria Government Starts President Impeachment Process Any impeachment process is likely to meet strong opposition in the Parliament - it will require 160 MPs votes to trigger the mechanism to fire the President but the current government can currently only count on 154. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria’s governing GERB party have announced that they will submit a request to Parliament for the initiation of the process for the removal of Bulgaria President Georgi Parvanov.

Co-chair of the center-right GERB parliamentary group, Krasimir Velchev, announced the desicion, which was taken after discussions were held Tuesday with NGOs, public experts and the legal implications of the ‘transcript scandal’ was looked into.

GERB’s Executive Committee announced that they interpreted the publication of the transcript of the President’s meeting with Finance Minister Simeon Djankov as a violation of the constitution. In Bulgarian law it states that “no citizen can be recorded without his knowledge or...except in cases provided by law”.

"The behavior of President Georgi Parvanov is an unprecedented act of defiance of civil and constitutional rights. It is a violation not only of the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister but also of the GERB government. Such behavior is very bad sign to Bulgarian society and its citizens. It shows that the established rights in the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria can be violated even by the head of state. This precedent is a sign of an unacceptable political morality, and requires a clear policy response,” Velchev stated.

Any impeachment process is likely to meet strong opposition in the Parliament - it will require 160 MPs votes to trigger the mechanism to fire the President but the current government can currently only count on 154.

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, Socialist President Parvanov published the transcript on his website triggering a wave of comments and criticism.

 

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Tags: impeachment, GERB, Simeon Djankov, transcript, Krasimir Velchev, Georgi Parvanov

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