Bulgaria's Ruling Party Dumps Controversial Constitution Court Hopeful

Politics » DOMESTIC | December 11, 2012, Tuesday // 09:00
Bulgaria: Bulgaria's Ruling Party Dumps Controversial Constitution Court Hopeful Center-right ruling party GERB has declared it will not back the controversial nomination of Galya Gugusheva for Constitutional Court member. Photo by BGNES

Center-right ruling party GERB has declared it will not back the controversial nomination of Galya Gugusheva for Constitutional Court member.

GERB's opposition to Gugusheva's bid was announced late on Monday by Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov following prolonged debates between senior members of the center-right ruling party and the right-wing party Union of Democratic Forces (UDF).

The meeting of GERB and UDF lasted over two hours.

Tsvetanov informed that UDF would be given a second chance to come up with a new nomination for a Constitutional Judge.

Bulgaria's Interior Minister told dnevnik.bg that Prime Minister Boyko Borisov had been notified about the decision.

Krasimir Velchev, Chair of the Parliamentary Group of GERB, explained late on Monday that the new procedure for nominating a Constitutional Judge from the parliamentary quota would start after the New Year holidays.

Galya Gugusheva is Deputy Chair of the Specialized Appellate Prosecutor's Office.

In the course of a few days, Bulgaria's Parliamentary Legal Committee received three tip-offs accusing Gususheva of conflict of interest and money laundering.

Gugusheva was nominated by UDF after the initial candidate of the right-wing party, former President Petar Stoyanov, refused to run for office.

Stoyanov was nominated after the scandal with Veneta Markovska, former Deputy Chair of the Supreme Administrative Court, who had been nominated by independent MPs but had her bid sabotaged over allegations of conflict of interest and corruption.

Markovska failed to swear in as member of the Constitutional Court after President Rosen Plevneliev walked out during the ceremony just as she was about to take the oath of office.

The scandal was resolved after the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) allowed Markovska to retire as VAS Deputy Chair and as a judge.

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Tags: Galya Gugusheva, constitutional judge, Constitutional Court, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, GERB, ruling party, Union of Democratic Forces, UDF, Petar Stoyanov, Veneta Markovska

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