GERB Pulls Out Its Nomination for Central Election Commission Chair, Suspects Conspiracy to Blame it for Any Failure in Election Process

ESD 12:29:31 06-05-2021
LN1244ES.105
105 POLITICS - CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION - GERB - NOMINEE

GERB Pulls Out Its Nomination for
Central Election Commission Chair,
Suspects Conspiracy to Blame it for Any Failure in Election Process


Sofia, May 6 (BTA) - The so far ruling GERB Party held an unscheduled news briefing on Thursday morning to announce that they are pulling out their nomination for chairperson of the new Central Election Commission (CEC). The decision was announced by party leader and outgoing Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. He said that only GERB had the guts to nominate a CEC chair while all the rest evaded this responsibility.

He was referring to the fact that none of the other parties and coalitions represented in the National Assembly put forward a candidate for the position. GERB's choice for the top job at the CEC was Krassimir Tsipov, an ex-MP and former deputy interior minister. All five other parliamentary groups personally objected to Tsipov when President Rumen Radev held consultations on the Commission's line-up on Wednesday.

Under the latest amendments to the Election Code, the President has until May 15 to appoint a CEC, which should have enough time to prepare early parliamentary elections that are likely be held on July 11, after the parties represented in the legislature elected on April 4 failed to form a cabinet.

Under the same revisions, the 15 CEC members (down from 18 before) are nominated by the parliamentary forces and are appointed by the President after consultations with the nominating parties and coalitions. GERB-UDF will have four representatives in the CEC, There Is Such a People and BSP for Bulgaria will have three each, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and Democratic Bulgaria will have two each, and Rise Up! Thugs Out! will have one.

The withdrawal of Tsipov's nomination marks a U-turn, after ranking GERB MPs passionately argued on Wednesday that the CEC should be headed by their representative because they have won the largest number of legislative seats.  

Borissov said at Thursday's news briefing that, judging by the glances that the other political forces in the new Parliament exchanged at Wednesday's consultations, they had conspired not to nominate a chairperson and a secretary of the Commission. The PM described the situation as a "snare" for GERB because Tsipov would be blamed if the new CEC fails to cope with the tasks assigned to it by the Election Code as last amended (the PM referred to the revisions as "the stupid things they did").

Election date questioned

Borissov also called into question the expected date for the early elections. "Why should the elections be held on July 11, why not hold them earlier or later," he asked, adding that he had expected the President to appoint a caretaker cabinet even on Wednesday.
   
Under the Constitution, elections should be held within two months after Parliament is dissolved, and President Radev said on Wednesday that he will decree the Parliament's dissolution on May 11. It was not clear why he picked that date and not an earlier one, considering that it has been clear for several days now that none of the parties in the incumbent Parliament is able or willing to form a cabinet, and the three ones mandated to do so by the head of State have already failed.

Bulgarian National Television (BNT) Director General Emil Koshlukov also opposed July 11 as polling day, arguing that the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship final is scheduled for that date and the BNT is under irrevocable contractual obligations to broadcast the game live, complete with commercial breaks.

"Now there will be new elections, and their outcome is a foregone conclusion. If we don't come out first, we'll come out second. In two months' time we will be back to square one, but this time we may also have a constitutional crisis," Borissov said. He was apparently referring to the fact that President Radev, too, will then be in a run-up to the presidential elections in the autumn (Radev has said that he will be seeking a second term). "I'm worried about how long the country will hold out without parliament," the outgoing head of government said.

He added that it would be right for the caretaker prime minister to attend Friday's meeting of the European Council, but he will have to go instead and assume responsibility rather than the interim PM.
    
The Prime Minister dismissed as "fabrications" the accusations levelled against himself and the entire governance model on Wednesday during a hearing of an ad hoc parliamentary committee scrutinizing the GERB incumbency. "They have paid people to step forward and talk. Anybody who has attacked me has lost the elections. The people has an instinct," Borissov said.

Svetoslav Ilchävski, a large landowner and grain producer, told the ad hoc committee at Wednesday's hearing about extensive schemes for pressuring businesses to cater to the power-holders' interests, about corruption, and about prime ministerial birthday parties where the guests gifted Borissov with gold bars. The GERB members of the committee did not attend the hearing but stormed the room with shouts and bangs on the tables halfway through Ilchovski's testimony, which was live-streamed on Parliament's website. The ensuing helter-skelter made it practically impossible for the hearing to proceed, and it was adjourned until Friday.  

At Thursday's news conference, Borissov denied having ever met Ilchovski and declined to comment on his allegations.

The news briefing opened at exactly the same time when a ceremony marking the Day of Valour and the Bulgarian Armed Forces was starting in central Sofia, with President Radev taking the salute and in Borissov's conspicuous absence. LN/LG

Source: Sofia