Bulgaria’s President: PM’s very act of convening Grand National Assembly is a disregard of the Constitution

Borissov's very act of convening the Grand National Assembly is a disregard of the Constitution, Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev said in a televised adress in response to the address by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on August 14.

Protests demanding the resignation of the government and the Chief Prosecutor have been going on for more than a month. Confidence in the ruling majority has been irretrievably lost, Radev is adamant.

According to him, the repressions, provocations and attempts to ignore the civil discontent only confirm the need for the demanded resignations.

Boyko Borissov proposes the convening of the Grand National Assembly and a series of constitutional changes. The act itself shows disregard of the Constitution - Article 159 of the Basic Law states that the right of initiative to convene Grand National Assembly belongs to no less than half of MPs and the President and not the Prime Minister.

"Can a government that violates the law, does not introduce machine voting and rejects electronic remote voting, organise fair elections? The answer is “No”. Can a government that stifles freedom of speech offer a debate on the future of Bulgaria? The answer is “No”. Should the mafia reform the judiciary? The answer is “No”. Can a prime minister who has turned a parliamentary republic into an autocracy propose changes to the Constitution? The answer is “No”," he said.

"Talks about the Constitution and Bulgaria's future are possible only after the resignations demanded by the public and after organization of fair early elections," he said in his address.