Parliament at Work: “Progressive Bulgaria” Sets Out Reform Agenda

President Iliana Iotova is set to hand the first exploratory mandate for forming a government to the largest political force, “Progressive Bulgaria”, later today, May 7, at 17:00 local time at the Presidency.

The political spotlight is also focused on the first sitting of Bulgaria’s 52nd National Assembly, where MPs are hearing from caretaker Finance Minister Georgi Klisurski on the state of the public finances. At the same time, the caretaker cabinet led by Andrey Gyurov is holding its final meeting.

Hours before the first governmentforming mandate was due to be handed over, tensions flared in Parliament. Earlier in the day, the largest parliamentary group, “Progressive Bulgaria”, outlined from the parliamentary rostrum how it sees the exercise of power and the work of the 52nd National Assembly — namely, in service of the public interest.

The group declared that laws would no longer be drafted for the benefit of specific political leaders, “as was previously the case”, but solely in the interest of Bulgarian citizens.

It was also announced that the controversial office once used by former communist leader Todor Zhivkov would no longer be occupied by political figures and would instead be turned into a reading room or museum. During the previous parliament, the office was used by the leaded of Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Delyan Peevski.

Anton Kutev from “Progressive Bulgaria” said: “We must fight corporate interests in order to provide accessible and high-quality healthcare. We must reform the education system so that our grandchildren can be proud of it. We must provide protection for the disadvantaged and punishment for the corrupt and criminal. In other words, we must restore the state to its rightful role in serving citizens — a role that traders in national sovereignty have systematically attempted to replace. We, the MPs from Progressive Bulgaria, are here by the will of the Bulgarian people to accomplish all this in accordance with the Constitution.”

The first major dispute in the new Parliament then erupted over the proposed structure and composition of the ad-hoc committee tasked with drafting the Parliament’s rules of procedure.

“Progressive Bulgaria” proposed that the committee be dominated by its own parliamentary group, arguing that as the governing force it should bear responsibility. Opposition parties rejected the proposal, accusing the majority of attempting to impose its will from the very beginning of the legislature.

Kutev responded: “It is neither logical nor right for the opposition to determine the rules under which Parliament will operate and then hold us, the governing majority, responsible for how it functions. We have seen how your Parliaments operated — now let us show you how ours will work.”

Ivaylo Mirchev of “Democratic Bulgaria” replied: “Mr Kutev, the moment someone begins speaking about ‘our parliament’, alarm bells should ring. We saw where that led just a few months ago. The Bulgarian people have placed enormous trust in you — act responsibly and behave like statesmen, not like old communists talking about ‘our National Assembly’.”

Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of “Vazrazhdane”, said: “What Progressive Bulgaria is now relying on is the established practice of GERB, supported by MRF. It is somewhat absurd to start flexing political muscles so brazenly on the very first regular sitting.”

Stoyu Stoev from “We Continue the Change” warned that disputes over parliamentary procedure had historically led to some of the biggest scandals in the chamber.

“The biggest scandals in the plenary chamber have always arisen precisely in the run-up to the adoption of the Rules of Procedure. The fact that we are seeking to hold a debate which will be dominated by a single parliamentary group, on rules through which we are meant to establish dialogue, is certainly not a good sign.”

Meanwhile, Petar Vitanov argued that the debate had “headed in the wrong direction”, adding that agreements had already been reached, including on the distribution of seats within the committee.

Petar Vitanov, Chair of the parliamentary group of “Progressive Bulgaria”, said:

“So far, the debate has been moving in the wrong direction, and we did not initiate it. I am sorry, colleagues, but we had joint decisions. Yet you drafted them yourselves, including the distribution arrangements. You wrote them all. Let us say this is a function of TikTok and social media.”

The parliamentary majority rejected, by abstaining from the vote, a proposal by “Democratic Bulgaria” to establish an ad-hoc committee of inquiry tasked with examining the asset declaration of MRF leader Delyan Peevski and any potential discrepancies between his declared assets and his actual financial and material wealth.

It also rejected a separate proposal from “Democratic Bulgaria” to set up an ad-hoc committee of inqury to investigate the so-called “Capital circle”.

Parliamentary proceedings continue with the hearing of the finance minister.