Bulgaria’s Parliament set to shut, sittings will be held for emergency laws only

With 115 votes in favour and 65 against, MPs on March 26 accepted the proposal of the Parliament’s Speaker, Tsveta Karayancheva, to temporarily suspend sittings. The measure is part of government efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Sittings will only be convened when emergency laws are adopted. Parliamentary questions time will be in writing.

The reason for the GERB proposal to temporarily shut down is that the orders of the national coronavirus task force are not fulfilled. There is no way to observe a distance of 2 meters between the MPs and there is no way to switch off the central ventilation system in the building.

The work of the Parliament will not be blocked, but the measures need to be taken in order not to become necessary to have all MPs quarantined, said the Speaker, Tsveta Karayancheva.

The MPs are likely to meet next week to adopt amendments to the Energy Act.