'Velichie' Call for the Return of Presidential Powers to Appoint Caretaker Governments

The Bulgarian political party Velichie has called for constitutional amendments to restore the president’s powers to appoint caretaker cabinets. In a declaration read to the National Assembly, the party argued that recent constitutional changes removed these powers from the head of state and weakened the balance of power between branches of power.

Velichie’s representative, Juliana Mateeva, said the changes were “dead on arrival” and harmful during times of parliamentary crisis, contending that only a Grand National Assembly has the authority to alter the fundamental structure of governance. The party proposes reverting to the previous constitutional text, which gave the President sole responsibility for designating a caretaker prime minister and cabinet during political deadlock.

Juliana Mateeva, Velichie:

“The constitutional changes have proved stillborn. All the amendments enacted by Parliament were aimed at stripping powers from the head of state. They have not only been inept but actively harmful to the country, especially during a parliamentary crisis. One of the gravest breaches of legislation was the amendment concerning the appointment of a caretaker cabinet. These changes violated constitutional provisions, effectively altering the form of government—a power that only a Grand National Assembly may exercise.”

According to Juliana Mateeva, the National Assembly shouldt restore normality and the constitutional provisions that existed before the amendments.

“The Constitution is not a playground for political experiments by self-proclaimed messiahs. We do not intend to innovate; our goal is to repair the damage that has been done by reinstating the previous text governing the President’s powers during a parliamentary crisis. Our motivation is to restore the balance and separation of powers, with the responsibility for appointing a caretaker cabinet entrusted to the president,” she said.

Velichie stressed that the Constitutional Court has repeatedly clarified the meaning of “form of government” and “form of state organisation,” and under what circumstances changes to these occur. The form of government changes when the powers of state bodies are altered or removed.

“It is unacceptable for an ordinary National Assembly to amend the Constitution in ways that affect the core rules of government and the balance of powers. We at Velichie still hold out some hope that the 52nd National Assembly has the reason and courage to amend the Sixth Constitutional Amendment in the remaining time. We call on MPs to support the draft resolution we have prepared, which restores only the principle of the separation of powers. We hope the National Assembly will take responsibility and return the president’s real powers to appoint a caretaker government, as envisaged by the Grand National Assembly, ensuring the state can emerge from a parliamentary crisis and that such a situation does not become constitutionalised.”