Progressive Bulgaria seeks backing for judicial reform changes

Progressive Bulgaria has called on parliamentary parties to back proposed constitutional changes related to judicial reform, BNR reporter Marta Mladenova said.

“We are proposing changes that are fully within the powers of an ordinary National Assembly – a mechanism to break the deadlock and prevent a situation in which bodies whose terms have expired determine the overall shape of the judicial system. We will introduce constitutional mechanisms for challenging decisions of the Supreme Judicial Council,” Justice Minister Nikolay Naydenov said.

Asked by BNR whether the constitutional reform would also address the way caretaker governments are appointed, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said: “We will propose restoring the president’s powers to freely choose a caretaker government, rather than the current arrangement. This leads to distorted results, and we saw what happened in the process of appointing these caretaker governments when the president’s hands are tied. The procedure came close to being blocked.”

Radev also said there was an “army of trolls” targeting his government and that one of the themes they promoted was the claim that one oligarchic model was simply being replaced by another.

Editor: Miglena Ivanova