GERB MP Delyan Dobrev Resigned from Parliament

Delyan Dobrev, an MP and district coordinator in Haskovo from the main ruling party GERB, announced on 1^st of October he was resigning from Parliament. Dobrev is leaving the politics because of the recent scandal in the city of Haskovo over allegations for nepotism and business interests in the management of the municipality.

The opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party alleged Dobrev in nepotism and conflict of interests.

BSP MP Elena Yoncheva pointed out that the first cousin of GERB MP Delyan Dobrev, his best man, classmates and former business associates held key positions in the municipality. Two of them are deputy mayors, and a close friend of Dobrev is a shareholder in companies that win public procurements.

Dobrev rejected the allegations. He said he already met with PM Borissov and informed him about the decision to resign from Parliament.

Dobrev, who was Minister of the Economy, Energy and Tourism in Borissov’s 2009 cabinet, said he was resigning as Chair of the National Assembly’s energy committee, from Parliament itself and all other party positions, but would remain a member of GERB.

The tensions started when few days earlier, GERB announced that it was withdrawing its confidence in Haskovo mayor Dobri Belivanov. They said the mayor had failed to deal with a series of problem in the city and had not fulfilled promises he had made during the 2015 municipal elections.

In an open letter to the media, Belivanov responded that he was not distancing himself from GERB but from Dobrev, who he alleged had created “ridiculous tensions” in Haskovo municipality.