Bulgaria Parliament to Fill Constitutional Court Vacancy by Friday

Bulgaria's Parliament will vote Thursday to fill the vacancies at the Constitutional Court (KS) and the Commission for Establishing Property Acquired from Criminal Activity (CEPACA), according to Iskra Fidosova, Chair of the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee.

Fidosova, as cited by the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), made clear on Wednesday that the procedure would be shortened but not rendered illegal by the collective resignation of the government.

"As it is important to fill the vacancy at KS, I filed an urgent change of the agenda of the plenary session on Thursday morning with the Parliament's Clerk's Office for a change of the hearing dates for the election of a judge from the Constitutional Court and members of the CEPACA," Fidosova stated.

"The hearing at the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee will take place on Thursday afternoon and the plenary hall vote will be held on Friday, so that we have a fully staffed Constitutional Court and calm, fair, and democratic elections," she noted.

The only nominee for a Constitutional Court judge is Grozdan Iliev, Deputy Chair of the Supreme Court of Cassation (VKS), nominated by center-right party GERB.

The filling of the vacancy at KS will allow it to function after the notorious failure of the bids of Veneta Markovska and Galya Gugusheva.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced Wednesday morning that the center-right GERB government would resign collectively by noon.

The step follows a series of mass protest rallies against high electricity prices that morphed into wider discontent over austerity and the way the country is being run.

Borissov told MPs on Wednesday that his party would not be part of a caretaker government.

Bulgaria's Parliament is to vote on the Cabinet's resignation on Thursday.

The country's parliamentary elections are due on July 7.