FIVE MPs LEAVE THE PARLIAMENTARY GROUP OF BULGARIAN DEMOCRATIC CENTRE

Five MPs left the Parliamentary group of the centrist Bulgarian Democratic Centre (BDC) on 3rd of June. All five are from the party “People’s Union”.

Rumen Yonchev, Svetlin Tanchev, Borislav Iglev, Georgi Kovachev and Yavor Haitov said they decided to leave because it became clear that during discussions over changes to the membership of standing committees they had no power over the decisions made in the group. According to the changes voted on 3rd of June in Parliament, Rumen Yonchev was removed from the post of a chairperson of the standing committee on the Policies towards Bulgarians who live Abroad and Yavor Haitov was removed from the Internal Security and Public Order Committee. The changes to the group’s representatives to the standing committees were tabled by the co-chair of the PG of BDC, Krasimira Kovacheva.

Tanchev commented that this act clearly showed that the five had no control on the way decisions were made in the Parliamentary group of the BDC.

“People’s union” are considering to table a proposal for changes to the rules on the activities of the National Assembly aiming at allowing the formation of new parliamentary groups. The number of independent MPs increases all the time and it is not normal the MPS not to be able to interact and to be isolated and deprived from their rights in committees, Tanchev said.

Parties go to parliament, not parliamentary groups, he added.

The parliamentary group of BDC consists of 14 MPs. According to the rules, a parliamentary group must have 10 members in order to be officially recognized in Bulgaria’s Parliament. The BDC will now have 9 after the 5 MPs from “People’s Union” left, which will lead to the dissolution of the group. The MPs from the dissolved group will become independents and cannot be accepted as members of another parliamentary group. They do not have the right to form another parliamentary group.