Bulgaria's Leaders Approve Govt Reshuffle on Friday, July 13

Politics | July 12, 2007, Thursday // 00:00
Bulgaria: Bulgaria's Leaders Approve Govt Reshuffle on Friday, July 13 Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev (M) and his junior coalition partners Simeon Saxe-Coburg (L) and Ahmed Dogan will discuss the changes in the government on July 13. File photo by Nadya Kotseva (Sofia Photo Agency)

The leaders of Bulgaria's ruling three-way coalition will convene on July 13, Friday, to finally approve the changes in the government that were proposed a month and a half ago.

The announcement about the long-delayed meeting was made in an official statement of the government press office.

Socialist Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev and his junior coalition partners - former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg and ethnic Turkish leader Ahmed Dogan - will have to reach an agreement on who should take over the office of the interior and justice ministers.

The three leaders are also expected to give the green light to Stanishev's plans to set up a National Security Agency. The structural change will combine the work of the interior, defence and finance ministries in a bid to strengthen the country's law enforcement capacity.

Amidst a huge corruption scandal Prime Minister Sergey Staniushev sacked two deputy ministers at the end of May and at the beginning of June accepted the resignations of Economy and Energy Minister Rumen Ovcharov and Justice Minister Georgi Petkanov.

Minister Ovcharov decided to quit even though a prosecutors' probe failed to collect evidence to pursue him on allegations of sleaze and blackmail.

Justice Minister Petkanov on the other hand handed his resignation, citing health reasons.

The resignations came just weeks ahead of a European Commission' progress report on Bulgaria's fight against corruption and reforms in the judiciary.

Former parliamentary speaker Ognyan Gerdzhikov, former Justice Minister Meglena Tacheva and former Justice Minister Anton Stankov have been tipped as the most likely successors to Petkanov.

Petar Kunev, a Socialist MP, chair of Bulgaria-Russia group for friendship and owner of a printing house, is a likely candidate to head the Economy Ministry, along with Petar Dimitrov, chair of the budget and finance parliamentary committee.

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