February 2 (BTA) - The National Assembly Wednesday accepted the resignation of Sotir Tsatsarov as Chairman of the Counter-Corruption and Unlawfully Acquired Assets Forfeiture Commission. All 197 MPs in attendance voted in favour.

Tsatsarov requested his term to be terminated early as of March 1, as this is the date when the annual report on the Commission's work is to be adopted.

During the discussion over Tsatsarov's resignation that lasted some two hours, there was a dispute between MPs from the ruling coalition and the opposition over the fight against the corruption in Bulgaria.

GERB-UDF stressed that MPs should give Tsatsarov credit for his role as head of the Counter-corruption Commission and former Prosecutor General. The Bulgarian Socialist Party argued that Tsatsarov's resignation was waiting to happen since his election to the office. Continue the Change insisted that Tsatsarov's resignation serves as a good occasion for Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev to resign from his post as well.

On January 13, Tsatsarov said that he resigns on his own will. A day later, it was reported that the State Agency for National Security (SANS) has revoked Tsatsarov's classified information clearance. He argued that SANS revoked his clearance after he had announced his resignation, and not the opposite.

Source: Sofia