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© Tsvetelina Belutova, Capital
All questions that fall within the competence of the Grand National Assembly may now be submitted to a referendum. This was surprisingly decided by the majority in parliament today, after GERB endorsed a proposal by the United Patriots, which it initially rejected.
Therefore, in Bulgaria it will now be possible to hold a referendum on issues such as the form of government, incl. if the country should not be a parliamentary republic but a presidential one, for the rights of citizens, incl. either to introduce an educational qualification to vote, as well as for changes in the constitution, incl. related to the mandate and powers of the Attorney General, the division of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary into two separate councils, the reduction of the number of deputies from 120 to 240, etc.
However, even if a possible referendum on these issues is successful, a Grand National Assembly must be convened again to change the constitution in this direction.
The changes were made through transitory and final provisions of the Electoral Code during the voting of its last text around 2:00 p.m. today. The bill to change the electoral rules was voted on for two days by parliament, or a total of 12 hours.
Under pressure from the “patriots”
The proposal to lift the ban on holding consultations with the people on matters pertaining to the jurisdiction of the Grand National Assembly was abandoned by 114 votes in favor, 61 against, and two abstentions. The system did not show how the deputies of the different parliamentary groups voted, but according to the parliamentarians with whom “Dnevnik” speaks, GERB and “United Patriots” were “in favor” and BSP – “against”.
According to unofficial information, GERB did not intend to support the proposal, but the small coalition partner threatened that Boyko Borissov’s party would not comply with its coalition agreement. There is also speculation that the formation is concerned about losing the United Patriots’ support for its draft of a new constitution.
The Patriots United proposal, written by IMRO’s Iskren Veselinov, has been debated for a month, and the idea was to conduct a survey on a number of topics related to changes to the constitution, including educational qualifications, along with possible elections to the Great National Assembly. , return of the mandatory barracks, expansion of the powers of the president with legislative initiative and motion of censure, etc.
At the moment, it seems impossible to get 160 votes for such a meeting, but to present a draft to schedule a referendum, the signatures of 48 deputies and a simple majority in parliament are needed. By law, the proposal that is the subject of the consultation is considered accepted if at least as many citizens participated in it as they voted in the last parliamentary elections and more than half voted “yes”. Parliament must then introduce it through legal changes, that is. legalizes.
“Threat to national security”
According to the vice-chairman of the BSP parliamentary group for Bulgaria Krum Zarkov, the GERB deputies squatted after the coalition partner threatened to withdraw their signatures from the “pishman project” of a new basic law. He believes that political accounting, combined with illiteracy, is already openly threatening our national security.
“They allowed questioning – notice! – changes in our territory; the form of government and administration; the immediate effect of the constitutional provisions; compliance with international treaties ratified by our country; the irrevocability of the fundamental rights of citizens and in general – “Our entire constitution! In short, to continue its irresponsible experiment of drafting a new constitution, GERB, in the minds of the” patriots “, is practically trying to repeal Bulgaria’s basic law from now on, “commented Krum Zarkov on Facebook.
