BUDGET REVISION CONSULTATIONS HOSTED BY BULGARIA’S PRESIDENT

Bulgaria’s President Rosen Plevneliev called for all Members of Parliament to attend the extraordinary sitting which will be held on 4th of August and to support the update of the state budget and the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) budget.

During the consultations convened by the President on 1st of August, the Bulgarian Socialists Party’s leader and Chairperson of Parliament, Mihail Mikov, reminded that the socialists already supported the update of the NHIF budget at first reading and restated the support for the final adoption of the NHIF budget revision bill.

As regards the state budget Mikov said that the left wing BSP representatives did not see serious grounds for revision of the state budget. Responsible MPs will not vote if it is not clear what the requested 3,5 billion BGN will be used for and there is no way to be given to the disposal of an executive power, which is not subject to Parliamentary control, Mikov said.

The leader of the centre right GERB, Boyko Borisov, reiterated the position of the party on the necessity to update the budget. He said he would send 10, 15, 20 MPs from GERB to take part in the extraordinary sitting of the Parliament on Monday, 4th of August and to support the update of the NHIF budget. Borisov said that if the state budget wass not updated it would be because of the BSP position, who claimed that revision of the state budget was not necessary.

The leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), Lyutvi Mestan stated that MRF would support the budget update and there would be no changes in the behavior, no matter what allegations might appear about MRF being involved in coalitions.

As a conclusion, President Rosen Plevneliev called for all MPs, not just 10, 15 or 20, to get together in the plenary hall for the extraordinary sitting. He urged them to debate, find solutions and address the real problems. He said that it was rather possible the next National Assembly to be unable to form a new government. “You don’t offer solutions for the debt as at the end of November, for the construction business, the European funds and the Corporate Commercial Bank”, the president said.

This was the final attempt of the Head of State, prior to the extraordinary sitting, to persuade the political powers that the budget revenues need to be revised.