Bulgarian Rulers Reveal They Have Constitutional Judge Candidate

Bulgaria's ruling centrist-right GERB party has a candidate in mind for a constitutional judge, GERB leader and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov revealed Wednesday.

However, Borisov noted that GERB prefers another right-wing formation to name a candidate, apparently referring to the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF).

The Prime Minister further reminded that constitutional judges used to be appointed without any hearings while the former three-way coalition government was in power (2005-2009).

The fact that constitutional court candidates are stepping down over conflict of interests suggests that a true democracy is in place.

On Tuesday , Prosecutor Galya Gugusheva, who was nominated for Constitutional Judge from the parliamentary quota by the right-wing Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) party, officially withdrew her bid after the parliamentary group of GERB declared that it would not back her.

Gugusheva became the second failed Constitutional Court nominee by Parliament, after the fiasco with judge Veneta Markovska, whose election by Parliament was not respected by Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev, due to allegations of dealing in influence that she was not able to dispel.