The President and the Judges oppose the SJC's plan to elect the next Prosecutor General

"It is not appropriate for the current composition of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to decide who will head the Prosecutor's Office and the Supreme Administrative Court, the Bulgarian Judges' Association said in its statement.

"The expired mandate of the current SJC requires its members to refrain from making decisions that are constitutionally bound to the statutory mandates of the respective bodies," the judges said. Referring to the SJC's nomination of acting Prosecutor-General Borislav Sarafov for the post of Prosecutor-General, they recall that the same majority in the Council ignored warnings from various legal circles about the unsuitability of the previous Prosecutor-General, Ivan Geshev.

For his part, President Rumen Radev said today that the current SJC had no legitimacy to choose a Prosecutor-General. "I am not even commenting on its expired mandate, but all its actions so far do not inspire confidence either in professional circles or in society," he added.

Asked by a journalist whether he might refuse to sign the decree appointing the new Prosecutor-General, Rumen Radev said: "That is what I have said so far; there's no rush."