Parliament Sustains President's Vetoo on Provisions of COVID-19 State of Emergency Measures Act
NW 18:18:01 23-03-2020
LG1812NW.111
111 POLITICS - COVID-19 - EMERGENCY LAW - VETO - SUSTAINED
Parliament Sustains President's Vetoo
on Provisions of COVID-19
State of Emergency Measures Act
Sofia, March 23 (BTA) - At an extraordinary plenary sitting on Monday, Bulgaria's Parliament sustained a veto that President Rumen Radev imposed on certain provisions of a law regulating the measures and actions during the month-long state of emergency that the legislature declared by a resolution on March 13 in connection with the coronavirus epidemic.
Monday's plenary vote on the provisions challenged by the head of State was 14 in favour (including 3 MP of the United Patriots and one independent), 118 against (GERB, BSP for Bulgaria and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms) and 56 abstentions.
Radev had vetoed a cap on the prices of goods and services while the state of emergency is in force, and this provision was dropped on Monday. On March 20, the National Assembly adopted an amendment to the Consumer Protection Act, moved by BSP for Bulgaria, which would oblige all business entities to sell goods and services to the public at prices equal to the arithmetic mean of the prices at which they have offered these goods and services over the last three months, before the state of emergency was declared. Under the amendments, breaches were to be punishable by a fine of 20,000 to 100,000 leva for natural persons and a pecuniary penalty of 5 per cent of the annual turnover for the previous year for legal persons.
Another vetoed provision that Parliament scrapped on Monday amended the Penal Code to increase the penalty for transmitting by radio, telephone or another medium false calls for help or misleading reports on an accident or an alarm, or false information about the spread of a contagious diseases, from two years' imprisonment to a maximum custodial sentence of three years and a fine of 1,000 to 10,000 leva. If significant harmful consequences have ensued from the act, the penalty will be up to five years' deprivation of liberty and a 10,000-50,000 leva fine.
GERB Floor Leader Daniela Daritkova said, addressing Parliament during a debate before the veto was put to the vote, that her parliamentary group backed the BSP-proposed provision on price speculation guided by a desire to see the law enter into force sooner.
BSP for Bulgaria leader Kornelia Ninova said, for her part, that her parliamentary group will move a rephrased provision.
Ninova recalled that the majority had also recjeted the idea to involve the private hospitals in the effort to control COVID-19 and that the law did not provide for the 1,000 leva supplementary pay promised to medics at the front line of the fight against the virus.
On behalf of VMRO, MP Alexander Sidi said that his party will not vote in favour of the President's veto because they insist on combating price speculation and fake news. Sidi said that his parliamentary group will enter other motions for the supperssion of price speculation.
United Patriots Deputy Floor Leader Boris Yachev said that the National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria will back the presidential veto "albeit with a huge amount of disgust." He argued that the provisions on price speculation would enable the administration to terrorize small and midsize business. NV/LG
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LG1812NW.111
111 POLITICS - COVID-19 - EMERGENCY LAW - VETO - SUSTAINED
Parliament Sustains President's Vetoo
on Provisions of COVID-19
State of Emergency Measures Act
Sofia, March 23 (BTA) - At an extraordinary plenary sitting on Monday, Bulgaria's Parliament sustained a veto that President Rumen Radev imposed on certain provisions of a law regulating the measures and actions during the month-long state of emergency that the legislature declared by a resolution on March 13 in connection with the coronavirus epidemic.
Monday's plenary vote on the provisions challenged by the head of State was 14 in favour (including 3 MP of the United Patriots and one independent), 118 against (GERB, BSP for Bulgaria and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms) and 56 abstentions.
Radev had vetoed a cap on the prices of goods and services while the state of emergency is in force, and this provision was dropped on Monday. On March 20, the National Assembly adopted an amendment to the Consumer Protection Act, moved by BSP for Bulgaria, which would oblige all business entities to sell goods and services to the public at prices equal to the arithmetic mean of the prices at which they have offered these goods and services over the last three months, before the state of emergency was declared. Under the amendments, breaches were to be punishable by a fine of 20,000 to 100,000 leva for natural persons and a pecuniary penalty of 5 per cent of the annual turnover for the previous year for legal persons.
Another vetoed provision that Parliament scrapped on Monday amended the Penal Code to increase the penalty for transmitting by radio, telephone or another medium false calls for help or misleading reports on an accident or an alarm, or false information about the spread of a contagious diseases, from two years' imprisonment to a maximum custodial sentence of three years and a fine of 1,000 to 10,000 leva. If significant harmful consequences have ensued from the act, the penalty will be up to five years' deprivation of liberty and a 10,000-50,000 leva fine.
GERB Floor Leader Daniela Daritkova said, addressing Parliament during a debate before the veto was put to the vote, that her parliamentary group backed the BSP-proposed provision on price speculation guided by a desire to see the law enter into force sooner.
BSP for Bulgaria leader Kornelia Ninova said, for her part, that her parliamentary group will move a rephrased provision.
Ninova recalled that the majority had also recjeted the idea to involve the private hospitals in the effort to control COVID-19 and that the law did not provide for the 1,000 leva supplementary pay promised to medics at the front line of the fight against the virus.
On behalf of VMRO, MP Alexander Sidi said that his party will not vote in favour of the President's veto because they insist on combating price speculation and fake news. Sidi said that his parliamentary group will enter other motions for the supperssion of price speculation.
United Patriots Deputy Floor Leader Boris Yachev said that the National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria will back the presidential veto "albeit with a huge amount of disgust." He argued that the provisions on price speculation would enable the administration to terrorize small and midsize business. NV/LG
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