BULGARIA’S PRESIDENT-ELECT WILL APPOINT A CARETAKER GOVERNMENT AND DISSOLVE PARLIAMENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

Bulgaria’s President-elect Roumen Radev intends to adhere strictly to the Constitution and to appoint a caretaker government, dissolve the National Assembly and set the date for parliamentary elections in the shortest possible period of time after he assumes office.

Any attempts to prolong the life of the current 43rd National Assembly under the pretext of allowing time to finalise unfinished work are contrary to the Constitution and the ruling of the Constitutional Court, Radev says in a position paper to Parliament's Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva, published by his office on 10th of January.

“The new parliamentary session of the 43rd National Assembly opens on 11th of January,” Radev says. “Copies of a draft resolution on the matters of the 6th of November referendum were provided to the relevant parliamentary committees in the middle of November, and later on, the committees received copies of a draft law on amendments and additions to the Election Code, but nothing was done about that in the following two months,” he added. “Meanwhile, the MPs took a break from parliamentary work, which was their right but was also their choice," Radev noted.

“I believe that in the remaining days of their work the MP’s will act responsibly and respectfully to the will of Bulgarian voters. I take the opportunity to wish the 43rd National Assembly fruitful work in the remaining days until its dissolution," he wrote.