GERB’s Desislava Atanasova attributed Lukashenko’s words to Boyko Borissov (video)

The GERB deputy, Desislava Atanasova, was confused and attributed to Prime Minister Boyko Borissov the words of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, known for his authoritarian style of government. This happened on Sunday on bTV’s “120 minutes” program.

She was prompted by the question: Can you tell whose quote this is from? “We need a new constitution. Will I hand over my powers under the constitution, but not under pressure or on the street?”

“I think these words belong to Prime Minister Borissov”, Atanasova replied.

“No, these words belong to Alexander Lukashenko. “, responded presenter Maria Tsantsarova and asked if Atanasova was concerned that a president recognized as a dictator and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov would draft a new constitution against the protesters.

“In no case can such a parallel be drawn. If you are talking about a dictatorship, then you will not broadcast the daily protests of people who have been protesting for more than 100 days.”Atanasova said.

When asked directly why he mistook Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for Borisov, he replied: “Maybe because I haven’t thought about the Lukashenko quotes. I was hoping he would provoke me with a Boyko Borissov quote.”

When asked if Atanasova was not ashamed that the protesters’ tactics were almost the same under Lukashenko and the Bulgarian government, she replied: “We are not trying to play any games. On the contrary, we have suggested some key things. Change in the constitution and restart of the state, change in the political system. These questions were asked in the early days of the protest. So there was a big crowd “.

You are not responsible to quit in a pandemic

Regarding the protests that lasted more than 100 days demanding the resignation of the government, Atanasova pointed out that there are elections in a few months. According to her, there should be no resignation at this time, because there was no approved budget for next year, there are no guaranteed payments in the health and education systems. “In the context of this pandemic, who will be responsible?Atanasova asked.

Just a 15 minute session on the new constitution and no powers

Desislava Atanasova is also chair of the Temporary Parliamentary Commission, which was created to discuss the government’s proposal for a new constitution.

“So far, we have only had one meeting where we have adopted internal rules. Unfortunately, the pandemic failed greatly in our plans.”Atanasova said. She added that she knew the meeting had lasted 15 minutes and clarified that neither she nor the members of the committee received additional remuneration for their participation in it.

Atanasova also acknowledged that the commission has no power to change the draft constitution.

“Except for the Grand National Assembly, no one has the right to adopt or change the texts of a new constitution”, she said.

When asked why he did not pay attention to his colleagues that the commission’s activities state that he can change the draft, Atanasova said that is why the constitutional court will rule.

“Neither I, nor the President, nor you are competent”he specified, turning to the presenter.

Atanasova also announced that next week there will be an online meeting with representatives of the Venice Commission, then an online conference will be held to convene the need to convene a Grand National Assembly.

“I don’t see any point in inviting Danail Kirilov”

When asked what are the names of the constitutional experts who agreed to work with the commission, Atanasova said that she would first present them to the commission members. Specify that it was about 10 people. Some of them would provide written submissions.

When asked if former GERB Judicial Minister Danail Kirilov, who is believed to be the author of the first draft of a new GERB constitution, was invited to the expert council, Atanasova replied: “No, I don’t see why I should invite him”.

He specified that he “suspects” that Kirilov is the author of the first project, which was not presented to parliament. Atanasova described the project as “unfortunate”.

When asked what his assessment of Kirilov’s professional qualities was, he said: “Don’t make me rate my colleagues, I said the project was unfortunate so I didn’t see the light of day.”