Bulgarian press review, July 23, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, July 23 (BTA)

THE HOME SCENE

"Troud" reports that GERB, The Blue Coalition, the Order, Lawfulness, Justice (OLJ) Party and Ataka pushed through a ban on independent MPs who have left their group or have been expelled from it, to join another group. Just as before, at least 10 MPs will be needed to form a parliamentary group. A Deputy Chairperson of the National Assembly rendered up by a group that ceases to exist will forfeit his or her position. After long arguments, GERB conceded and agreed that the parliamentary Committee on Control of SANS be composed on a parity basis, of one MP of each group, or a total of six members. The representatives of all groups except GEFB will rotate as chairs of the Committee. The number of National Assembly standing committees was reduced from 21 to 17.

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"Dnevnik" reports that in a declaration on its priorities, the 41st National Assembly promised constitutional and legal reforms, unblocking the access to the EU funds and a scrutiny of the tenure of the outgoing three-party coalition. The adoption of the document on Wednesday was accompanied by disputes over procedure, and the priority of a scrutiny of the previous government's incumbency prompted the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) to stay out of the vote and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) to abstain.

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"Zemya" writes on its front page that MPs who were affiliated with State Security will be barred from chairing National Assembly committees and from membership of international delegations and of the Committee on Internal Security and Defence, the Committee on Control of SANS and on Control of EU Funds. Yanaki Stoilov MP of Coalition for Bulgaria said that this is the first majority in the 20-year-long transition that has voted a lustration resolution.

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"Who Says MPs Will Have Vacation? It depends on the Cabinet": under this heading, "24 Chassa" runs an interview with National Assembly Chair Tsetska Tsacheva. "Bills have already been introduced, and they will be debated immediately after the parliamentary committees are constituted. And if they ensure a regular supply of statutory instruments for plenary debate, there will be no recess," Tsacheva asserts.

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"Locked in Interregnum," reads the heading of a comment in "Standart News." "The Stanishev Cabinet has been consigned to history. As from yesterday, the executive is on autopilot. The outgoing upper echelon does not feel bound to discharge its official duties. Within the space of a single day, four people were kidnapped, which indicates the acute need of a strong hand in government. The new statesmen of GERB will have come to grips quickly with their functions and responsibilities, to take up the helm of the aimlessly moving state machine. The GERB leader and his team cannot afford the luxury of learning the ropes of running the country on the move."
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In an analysis contributed to "Monitor" and entitled "New Political Landscale after Elections," Assoc. Prof. Dr Antonii Gulubov argues that the fence-sitting position of The Blue Coalition as a political donor to the majority will probably give the internal opposition in the Union of Democratic Forces fresh arguments to try yet again the call into question the stability of the party and, hence, of the right-of-centre coalition. The OLJ, too, failed to achieve the privileged role of GERB's trusted ally. Yane Yanev's party remains closest to the reformist governance project, albeit beyond the notion of a ruling majority. The BSP's most substantial problem is conceding defeat and chooing a model of conduct in opposition. The MRF remains outside the public debate on the evolving new power configuration. The MRF emerged from both its consecutive terms in government stronger than before. The disappearance of the National Movement for Surge and Stability (NMSS) from parliamentary political space did not cause any serious cataclysms. The NMSS successfully attained the goals for which it was established."

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"Ministry Conjured Up for Bozhidar Dimitrov," "Troud" writes in a headline. Prof. Bozhidar Dimitrov will be a minister without portfolio in charge of Bulgarians abroad, according to sources of the daily. He got the job suddenly, after Parliament voted a lustration provision which prevents him from becoming chairman of the Standing Committee on Culture. Dessislava Taneva, presented by Boiko Borissov himself as the future agriculture minister, said yesterday that she is declining the nomination.

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"Troud" reports that on Wednesday Prosecutor General Boris Velchev referred to the Constitutional Court alerts by Yane Yanev and The Blue Coalition contesting the election results in Turkey. They argue that the voting by Bulgarian citizens in the parliamentary elections there was rigged. According to experts, the Constitutional Court cannot annul part of the the election results. It can either cancel the results countrywide or refuse to do so. The other option is to examine the legal conformity of the election of individual MPs.

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"MRF Took the Sword and Perished with the Sword," "Sega" comments. According to the author, "the latest elections brought down to earth the MRF and its leader. The Movement garnered a record support of 610,521 votes. The way in which this was achieved, however: through ad hoc revisions of the election law, a huge number of voting sections at the Bosporus, brazen statements to the point of insolence, triggered an unprecedented backlash. This frayed Ahmed Dogan's nerves to such an extent that on election night he hinted about a gospel quotation that 'all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.' In reality, though, it was him that had taken the sword. And had perished with that sword. The MRF has never been in the position that it is likely to be in the next four years. Paradoxically, the MRF's largest election victory may prove the start of a long consignment to oblivious opposition."




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Interviewed for "Troud," National Revenue Agency Executive Director Krassimir Stefanov explains: "I would like to say expressly that an audit of [MRF leader] Ahmed Dogan is not in progress now. We are checking natural and legal persons who own properties that are allegedly related to Mr Dogan in some way. Secondly, I would like to say that no deadline for conduct of this check is expiring. The important thing is to conduct it adequately."

BULGARIA - EU

"'Bulgaria showed the first technical results in the fight against corruption and organized crime, but their effect is limited,' the European Commission said yesterday in its regular report on this country's progress in justice and home affairs," "Troud" reports. "The document praises us for the first convicted mobsters and the joint investigation teams of prosecutros, investigators, policemen and the State Agency for National Security (SANS). This time, too, Brussels did not ask for the imposition of a safeguard clause on Bulgaria. The deadline for this is December 31. Until the next report, due in the summer of 2010, the Commission gave our new government 21 concrete tasks. The emphasis among them is on development of an integrated strategy against organized crime and corruption."

"24 Chassa" rounds up magistrates' and politicians' opinion after the release of the report. "We are already working on one of the recommendations contained in the report," said Prosecutor General Boris Velchev. He has started talks with Prime Minister designate Boiko Borissov on the setting up of specialized units for combating organized crime and for investigating high-level corruption. "The advice of Brussels to set up special courts for the cases related to organized crime and corruption must be examined very carefully," according to Supreme Court of Cassation President Lazar Grouev. "If the report is a test, I am not self-confident that we have performed well," said Supreme Administrative Court President Konstantin Penchev. In his view, the criticism about the personnel policy of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) is justified. "A new criterion for assessment of magistrates' performance will be set in an ordinance under the Judicial System Act," said SJC member Anelia Mingova. Margarita Popova, slated for future minister of justice, advices against "euphoria". Outgoing Interior Minister Mihail Mikov sees the report as "encouraging, taking account of the progress achieved." "Of course it is criticial. As to whether it is encouraging - this aspect is probably addressed to the new parliamentary majority and the future government," according to Mikov's prospective successor, Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

Interviewed for "Troud," outgoing European Affairs Minister Gergana Passy sums up her term in office: "I failed in my efforts to have a parliamentary committee on SANS on a parity basis, chaired by the opposition. I failed to make our partners vote in favour of broader powers for the Criminal Assets Identification Commission. It gets a positive mention in the report, but we are still in the age of multimillionaires who have not a cent to their name, have written everything over to their wives. And they are untouchable. We are leaving the country with a vice: inexplicable wealth. Odd actions by even the most motivated prosecutor general cannot eliminate the problem. We need clear legal mechanisms."

ECONOMY

Under the heading "Guarded Optimism about Public Finance," "Troud" comments that the slump of production is more alarming than the state of the budget. In May 2009, industrial production contracted 22.1 per cent from the same month a year ago. Worse yet, the sectors "fueling" future production literally collapsed: the manufacture of intermediate goods by 33.7 per cent, and the manufacture of investment goods by 27.2 per cent. Bankruptcies give cause for concern as well. Between January and April 2009, 118 companies were adjudicated bankrupt, compared to 67 last year.


Links to some Bulgarian info websites in English:

• http://www.bta.bg/site/en/indexe.shtml
• http://www.novinite.com/index.php
• http://www.focus-fen.net/


Most discussed topics of the day – July 23, 2009

• Prime Minister designate Boiko Borissov handed President Georgi Purvanov a proposal for a structure and personnel composition of a cabinet formed on the GERB mandate. Borissov announced his cabinet within the seven-day term envisaged in the Constitution, after he had received an exploratory mandate on July 16 to form a cabinet. Parliament will vote the draft cabinet at an extraordinary sitting on July 27.
• The structure of the Council of Ministers which Prime Minister designate Boiko Borissov presented to President Georgi Purvanov at 12 p.m. consist of 15 ministries with different portfolio and 1 minister without portfolio. The new structure does not include a Ministry of Emergency Situations and a Ministry of State Administration and Administrative Reform, but a Ministry of Sport is set up. The tourist sector will be added under the Ministry of Economy and Energy.
• The newly proposed Bulgarian government is composed as follows. Former senior World Bank economist Simeon Djankov is the new Minister of Finance; The GERB party Chair Tsvetan Tsvetanov is the new Interior Minister; Djankov and Tsvetanov will be the two Deputy Prime Ministers. Sofia Deputy Mayor Yordanka Fandakova is becoming Minister of Education. The biggest surprise in the new government is Traycho Traykov, procurist of EVN electricity distribution company, who will head the Ministry of Economy, Energy, and Tourism. Sculptor Vezhdi Rashidov will be the Minister of Culture, former MEP Nikolay Mladenov - Defense Minister, and prosecutor Margarita Popova - Justice Minister. MEP Rumiana Jeleva is taking over the Foreign Ministry, and the Mayor of the city of Vratsa Totyu Mladenov - the Social and Labor Ministry. Bozhidar Nanev, GERB MP and surgeon at Varna University Hospital will be in charge of the Health Ministry. Construction businessman Rosen Plevneliev will be Regional Development Minister. Environment consultant Nona Karadzhova is expected to be the next Environment Minister. Alexander Tsvetkov, currently Deputy Mayor of the capital Sofia, will be the new Transport Minister. Miroslav Naydenov is taking over the Agriculture Ministry, after MP Dessislava Taneva withdrew her nomination in the last minute. Bozhidar Dimitrov, the director of Bulgaria's National History Museum is going to be Minister without a portfolio in charge of the Bulgarian citizens abroad. Svilen Neykov, Bulgarian rowing champion and coach and husband of Bulgarian Beijing Olympics gold medalist Rumyana Neykova, will be in charge of the newly created Sports Ministry.
• The parliamentary Committee on the Fight against Corruption, Conflict of Interest and Parliamentary Ethics will be set up on a parity principle - it will include one representative from each parliamentary group, Parliament resolved in a discussion on the parliamentary rules of procedure. The committee will be chaired on a rotation basis.
• Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov conferred the Order of the Balkan Range, First Class, on outgoing US Ambassador to Bulgaria Nancy McEldowney. She received the highest Bulgarian state honour for her extraordinary contribution to the development of Bulgarian-US relations.