Bulgarian MP Proposes Parliament Shutdown Until Elections Are Over

Bulgaria's Parliament should extend the lawmakers' summer break until the end of October, when presidential and local elections are to take place in the country, according to Yane Yane, a controversial conservative MP.

Yanev, who is the leader of the marginal conservative Law, Order and Justice party, has stated that the Bulgarian MPs will be preoccupied with their parties' election campaigns and will not do anything besides wasting taxpayers' money until October 23, when the presidential and local elections will take place.

"Vast amounts of money will be spent on nothing, on empty political talk, and most of the listeners are sick of it," Yanev has explained, as cited by the Cross news agency. He has estimated that a total of BGN 11 M would be spared from the Bulgarian state budget if the country's Parliament is shut down for two more months.

Yanev has also demanded that all Bulgarian lawmakers who are running for mayors should be deprived of their official vehicles until the elections are over.

On Wednesday, the Members of the Bulgarian Parliament reconvened for their first meeting after the summer break, which began on July 30. The upcoming elections, as well as the adoption of the country's 2012 state budget, are expected to be among the key topics during the autumn parliamentary session.