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© Georgi Kozhukharov
In a few minutes today, the deputies of BSP, MRF and “United Patriots” in the legal committee in parliament rejected all GERB proposals for changes in the voting system for the Grand National Assembly (SNC), including the election by majority in a round of 200 of 400 deputies.
The final vote in the plenary room of the changes in the Electoral Code could be tomorrow, but the probability that the GERB will promote its ideas is not high, or it should get support or the quorum will be very low, allowing the adoption of proposals with few votes.
If GERB’s ideas for a mixed system are finally rejected by the deputies, but the ruling party manages to obtain 160 votes to convene a Grand National Assembly to approve a new constitution (which seems impossible for now), elections for 400 deputies will be they will perform proportionally, such as voting for an ordinary parliament.
“And what is the result? Not accepted”
That the GERB does not gather support for its ideas for a majority vote for the Grand National Assembly was seen during the vote on the proposal to name the new chapter of the Electoral Code. It got to the point where two publicly criticized parties came together: Yordan Tsonev and Hamid Hamid of the MRF supported a proposal by Hristian Mitev of the “Patriots United” to delete the paragraph. All the deputies voted against GERB and supported the same proposal, however, from Cornelia Ninova.
“Nine” in favor “, nine” against “and two” abstentions “: the president of the legal commission in parliament Anna Alexandrova announced the results of the vote on the GERB proposal for a new chapter in the Electoral Code for a Mixed system for the election of the Grand National Assembly were from GERB, the opponents – from BSP, “United Patriots”, “Attack” and “Will”, and the abstainers – from MRF.
“And what is the result?” Asked the deputy of the BSP Krum Zarkov, after which he received the answer: “Not accepted.” The purpose of the question was probably to hear from people who were not allowed into the committee room and who had to watch the meeting online (read below for more details).
© Georgi Kozhukharov
After a few minutes, almost 20 pages of proposals for changes in the election system of the Grand National Assembly of the GERB were rejected, and the other parties voted “against” or “abstained”.
However, the vote showed that GERB does not want to hear criticism of its ideas. While Vanya Nusheva from “Transparency without Borders” explained that a majority of votes in a round means a decrease in representation and majority democracy, which in some western countries has provoked protests from the so-called yellow vests, the deputies of the party of Boyko Borissov interrupted her.
In response to criticism of the BSP that GERB does not have the legitimacy to start elections for the Grand National Assembly, MP Krassimir Tsipov announced that the Supreme Judicial Council could not be divided into two without one, and the party insists on this change. Finally, Anna Alexandrova said that GERB continues to demand majority elections, as this was the wish of the majority of the people.
“We will find the bicycle”: who is responsible for the voting machine
Despite Vanya Nusheva’s call from Transparency International that a bold decision must be made and that it should not be difficult to report the results by double voting, GERB and United Patriots returned the voting by machine and introduced the possibility of choosing in the sections. more than 300 voters, either by machine or by ballot. In local elections, however, voting will only be done on paper.
The debate lasted over an hour and the BSP proved to be the main advocate for a fully automatic vote. The arguments were different: that the choice would be fair; which will reduce the number of invalid votes; that errors in reporting results will be reduced; it won’t back down. The MRF declared itself the author of the idea of voting only with machines. According to Yordan Tsonev, the elderly may have a psychological barrier to voting with machines, but they can vote with ballots and have machines.
© Georgi Kozhukharov
The Central Electoral Commission will be responsible for the purchase or rental of the machines, not the Council of Ministers, which according to unconfirmed information is the reason for the resignation of its president Stefka Stoeva. For certification – State Agency “Electronic Government”, the Bulgarian Institute of Metrology and the Bulgarian Institute for Standardization. The latter’s president, Ivelin Burov, said that the institute was not a state organization, but that several companies were involved, and announced that it did not have the capacity or the staff to work on the voting machines. He asked legislators not to impose this responsibility on the institute for “not detecting the bicycle or hot water,” but his request was not heard.
Everyone together with GERB rejected the idea of GERB for elections for 48 hours due to a possible epidemic situation.
“Ma’am, you are alone in this.”
After criticism from the BSP and MRF for unlocking the possibility of manipulation in the results, the ruling parties GERB and United Patriots simplified the protocols of the sectional electoral commissions to the extent that the data of the unused ballots were not completed, for example. They argued with recommendations from the Central Electoral Commission, whose representatives did not want to comment. “Madam President, you are left alone with your coalition partners in this vote,” Yordan Tsonev of the MRF told Anna Alexandrova of the GERB.
The ruling majority did not accept any of the proposals of the BSP and MRF deputies. The first fully defended the vote of the machines and the burden of the Council of Ministers with the responsibility of providing the machines, and the second demanded the nonsense of preference, agitation in the mother tongue, etc. Rejecting the ideas of the Socialists, Alexander Ivanov of the GERB joked about a technical error in the announcement of the vote for the leader of the BSP: that Cornelia Ninova won in 296 municipalities, and in our country there were only 265. Therefore, according to the ruling BSP there was no right to set the rules.
Faced with Dnevnik’s question why the opening of the Electoral Code months before the elections does not accept the recommendations of experts to clear the lists of voters, ballot counting centers, etc., the ruling parties said that the most important thing is being doing in the last moments, since work on these issues had stopped due to the coronavirus.
“Dangerous precedent”: no criticism in the living room
At the beginning of today’s legal commission meeting, it became clear that the leader of “Stand Up.BG” Maya Manolova, the representative of “Democratic Bulgaria” Antoaneta Tsoneva and non-governmental organizations were not allowed at the meeting. GERB’s argument – due to the anti-epidemic measures in the room, only the first were allowed to register.
According to Krum Zarkov of the BSP, this is just an excuse not to listen to criticism of bad legislation. You think this sets a dangerous precedent.
The opinion of Hamid Hamid of the MRF is that an old practice should be used: civil society organizations should be able to express their opinion only in the first reading, in the second, so as not to ignite the debates.
The vote on the changes to the Electoral Code lasted for 2 hours and 20 minutes, and the legal commission meeting was broadcast online.
“We do not want to observe, we want to express our position developed by our experts. We have strong proposals to ensure the fairness of the process. What is happening now, on one of the most important issues in a democracy, for” Our duty to citizens is guarantee a fair electoral process, beyond strictly political processes. We will all go to these elections, early or not, “commented Antoaneta Tsoneva.
