2024-07-12 21:13:01
- There may be a problem with filling committees if independents are left out
- Kaloyan Metodiev compared himself to Mahatma Gandhi
Deputies started their working day today with a dispute about party nomadism. The fire started burning minutes after they finally picked up the rules for the work of the National Assembly.
The first to speak was Georgi Svilenski from the BSP, who last time heated up passions with his proposals that independent MPs should be able to form new parliamentary groups. However, then he was suspected of doing it because of the problems in the BSP and paving the way for a possible split in the group of socialists.
Svilenski admitted that his previous proposals had confused everyone, but no one knew what to expect. “No one from the BSP will hold another PG, we are a single parliamentary group. When we make a proposal, we do it in the interest of the National Assembly, the Bulgarian citizens and that the National Assembly works fruitfully”, he vowed, picking up his ideas for more opportunities for the independent deputies.
To defend his thesis, he drew a parallel between himself and DPS exemptions Ramadan Atalay. Svilenski had a place in a group, an office and a place in a committee, while Atalai was not entitled to a cabinet and a committee and had to roam the corridors despite his experience. “Is this collegial to these colleagues of ours? According to the Constitution, we are all equal and have equal rights,” he said. And he asked for an example of another country in which independent MPs do not have the right to participate in committees.
According to him, it is normal when 10-15 people are united by a value, an idea, to form a group.
“Or is it easier to trade deputies on the free market than to have them regulated and for the leadership of the National Assembly to know who they are talking to? They must have the necessary time to speak – now 40 people have 5 minutes to speak and one question,” he continued Svilensky. However, he admitted that part of his parliamentary group does not support his ideas, but he will support his vote. “We cannot fill the commissions with 40 independents. The commissions are increased in the regulations, but who will work in them?”, asked the MP from the BSP.
However, Hristo Gadjev from GERB reminded him that the texts in question against party nomadism came precisely from the BSP in the 43rd and 44th National Assembly, and were accepted by all political forces.
“Parliamentary nomadism must not return. Deputies who have been removed from the party list cannot join another group, this has been a principled position of GERB for decades. This is not good for democracy,” insisted Gadjev.
Ivan Chenchev also joined in defending Svilenski’s thesis and asked why people’s representatives should be ostracized. We have an unprecedented situation, nearly 40 independents, what is the attitude towards them, he asked.
And Gadjev pointed out that, despite his request, Svilenski did not make a proposal to increase the time for speeches of the independent deputies. In addition, they can still participate in committees – with the decision of the chairman of the National Assembly.
Then Krasimira Katencharova from Velichie took the floor. According to her, the parliamentary rules underwent “only a slight makeover”. And he complained that the quality of legislation had fallen. There were a number of situations discriminating against independent deputies. The 5 minutes for speaking could be divided among the 40 independent deputies – with one word each.
She tried to use the time to convince her colleagues to make a temporary commission on the problems in Dospat. To which Stanislav Balabanov from ITN reacted strongly and called on her to return to the topic, and for Dospat to stay for the time when a law is being considered that would stop the debauchery in small settlements.
And the first expelled from the group – Kaloyan Metodiev, who entered the National Assembly from the lists of “BSP for Bulgaria”, also demanded more rights. “We don’t want privileges, we want rights, no more than others,” he said. According to him, everything in the country is undergoing a process of change, which will launch a root system everywhere.
“We have 3 types of independent MPs, they cannot be under the same denominator, we have excluded, left, disintegrated. This is the only group in growth. While I was alone, my letters could not be answered, I could walk like an orphan in the corridor with the backpack, but today we are 37 people with a tendency for more and no one is insured.
According to Metodiev, Svilenski’s proposals are more democratic.
“Never forget that you, who are members of parliamentary groups, are the British Empire, and we are Mahatma Gandhi, history knows how this ends,” said Metodiev, who was expelled from the PG of the BSP.
However, GERB’s Delyan Dobrev also saw a problem in the large number of independents, which could indeed hinder the filling of parliamentary committees. He estimated that independents have 74 committee seats. The remaining 203 MPs may not be able to fill all the committees.
The leader of “Vazrazhdane” Kostadin Kostadinov, on the other hand, countered Metodiev that social and household complexes did not excite anyone except “people with backpacks”. And he pointed out that no one takes away their right to make legislative proposals, especially on important issues. “No one limits their presence in committees, however they are in this room. The only thing that is logical and moral and right, when some people have lied to their voters and broken their promises, that they should not have the same opportunities that the PG gives them , which was formed for hundreds of thousands of voters. We have proposed a much more serious measure that contradicts the constitution,” said Kostadinov, alluding to Tsveta Rangelova’s proposal from the previous mandate that those excluded leave the National Assembly as well.
“In terms of individuals and the number of votes for the party, there are probably no more than 5 people in the hall who could independently enter the National Assembly. Everyone else is here because of the trust in the party they represent. Anyone who betrays the trust of the people who they sent him as a representative of the PG, he has no moral right to be in this parliament and he should leave immediately,” he added.
Stay tuned for details.