Bulgaria’s newly-elected Parliament holds its first sitting

Bulgaria’s 46th National Assembly held its first sitting on July 21.

Nearly 100 days after the previous parliament took an oath, the new MPs were sworn in today.

Upon entering, President Rumen Radev praised the work of the caretaker government. He recalled the message from 3 months ago to MPs - to restore parliamentarism and have effective legislation.

As part of the tradition, the new Parliament's first session was opened by the oldest attending Member of Parliament, who is Mika Zaykova of the “There Is Such a People” party (the largest parliamentary group).

Reason, responsibility, prosperity - Mika Zaykova repeated these words several times. She called on the MPs to share their knowledge and skills to the benefit of Bulgaria. She urged for constructive work for the dream of the Bulgarian people - a prospering Bulgaria that is a worthy member of the EU

Iva Miteva of “There is Such a People” was elected Speaker of the Parliament

The political parties announced their priorities through declarations.

This Parliament is much closer to reality and to what the Bulgarian citizens want, said the deputy chairman of "There is Such a People", Toshko Yordanov

“When President Radev gives a mandate, we will propose a cabinet” Yordanov said.

He told MPs that if the declarations about wanting change were sincere, it should be possible to have a government within the next 14 to 15 days.

If not, the country would face early elections again, he said.

GERB-UDF, the second-largest group in Parliament, said that they would be a “strong, constructive and competent” opposition to the next government.

"We are faced with the possibility of Bulgaria being governed by majorities of interest, in which the responsibility will not be borne by political leadership, Bulgaria has had similar cabinets - Berov and Oresharski, this type of government ends in collapse. GERB-UDF will not support this type of government," said Desislava Atanasova of GERB-UDF.

The BSP leader, Kornelia Ninova, pointed out 4 state challenges - to compensate for the low legitimacy of the parliament, to have a dialogue, to form a stable government and to dismantle the old model of government.

"Democratic Bulgaria" will look for a formula for managing the profound change. They will also initiate a debate on judicial system reform.

We will look for a formula for managing deep change, Hristo Ivanov of “Democratic Bulgaria” said.

The Movement for rights and Freedoms (MRF) called for consensus and said it was ready for dialogue. They believe that change goes through political wisdom.

Mustafa Karadayi: We from the MRF call for consensus, we are ready for dialogue

"Rise Up BG! We are Coming!" (formerly “Rise up! Thugs out!”) declared readiness for dialogue with "There is Such a People" and "Democratic Bulgaria".

Maya Manolova: We are ready for talks with “There is Such a People!” and Democratic Bulgaria.

Following the declarations, the work of the 46th Parliament began.

The MPs from GERB and "There is Such a People" did not appear in the general photo of all parliamentary groups, which is traditionally taken after the end of the official part.

images by Dessislava Kulelieva

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