Constitutional amendments approved: Bulgarian parliament limits presidential powers

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Both the pro-Western government parties PP-DB and Gerb-SDS and the ethnic Turkish party MRF voted in favor of the bill in the third and final reading. With 165 of the 240 votes, the two-thirds majority required for constitutional changes has been achieved, reports the BTA news agency.

The additions to the Basic Law are also intended to strengthen the independence of the judiciary. They also stipulate that dual nationals who hold another citizenship in addition to Bulgarian nationality can become members of parliament and members of the government if they have lived in Bulgaria for at least the past 18 months.

The president, in turn, will have less say if a coalition government fails. In that case he will no longer be able to dissolve parliament. When appointing an interim prime minister, he will now only have a choice between the speaker of parliament and members of a small circle of senior government officials.

After the vote in parliament, Radev announced that he would submit the constitutional changes to the Constitutional Court. They would undermine the foundations of the democratic and sovereign state, he said in a statement. Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov said the president himself was involved in the case and was therefore unable to make an objective assessment.

The two pro-Western parties PP-DB and Gerb-SDS, previously enemies, have been in power in EU and NATO member country Bulgaria since June. Part of the coalition agreement is a rotation in the highest government office, with Denkow of the PP-DB being replaced after a year and a half by the Gerb politician Maria Gabriel.

(SDA)

Source: Blick