The majority in Bulgaria's parliament has surprisingly failed to pass through a long-delayed and keenly expected bill, authorizing widespread confiscation of illegally obtained assets without a conviction.

The draft law, initiated by Bulgaria's Justice Minister Margarita Popova and widely touted by the ruling party as a powerful tool in crime and corruption combat, was supported on Friday by only 71 members of parliament, 95 voted against and one abstained.

Talking on the sidelines of the parliamentary session, members of the ruling center-right GERB party explained the failure with the absence of many of their colleagues.

The law provided for Bulgarian authorities to have the right to seize unexplained wealth, worth more than BGN 150,000, without a conviction as of January 1, 2012.

The Council of Europe's Venice Commission recommended this timeline after approving the final, fifth version of the draft law in the middle of June.

The commission called on Bulgaria's parliament to pass the new law by its summer recess. The European Commission, which sees the legislation as a powerful weapon in the country's corruption combat, has set the same deadline.

The bill allowed the state Commission for Establishing of Property Acquired from Criminal Activity to probe the property and bank account of members of the families of people who cannot explain their sources of income in court and their partners.

Donations made in order to hide assets from the commission will also be subject to probes. Under the law transactions with criminally acquired property will be void and subject to forfeiture. So if the holders of illegal assets get rid of them by selling them quickly at low prices, buyers can also be held accountable.

The commission will have the right to launch investigations into incomes and acquisitions for the last fifteen years, the draft law says.

The body has seized assets worth BGN 10.8 M since its establishment in 2005.

The current center-right government of Bulgaria, led by Boyko Borisov, was elected almost two years ago on an anti-corruption mandate and on the promise to bring to justice those involved in huge-scale corruption schemes.

Some embezzlement trials against high-ranking officials have been widely considered to be a litmus test for the government's willingness to do so in practice, but most of them have ended with acquittals.

Under parliamentary rules the bill can be tabled in parliament again after three months at the earliest and only if significant changes are made in its main provisions.

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