PRESIDENTIAL VETO ON CHANGES TO ELECTORAL CODE WAS PASSED BY THE LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OF BULGARIA’S PARLIAMENT

On 17th of May, the Legal Affairs Committee of Bulgaria’s Parliament adopted the veto imposed by Bulgaria’s President on the amendments to the electoral law regarding the Bulgarians voting abroad.

Two MPs from the nationalist alliance Patriotic Front voted against, two MPs from the Bulgarian Socialist Party and one from the liberal Movements for Rights and Freedoms voted in favour. Seven MPs, from the centre-right GERB, Reformist Bloc and the populist Bulgarian Democratic Centre abstained.

On 7th of May, Bulgaria’s President Rossen Plevneliev vetoed amendments to the Electoral Code that he saw as infringement of the voting rights of Bulgarians abroad.

Plevneliev returned the amendments to the Parliament for further consideration. According to him, the amendments which provided for creating different rules on opening polling stations abroad depending on whether the country involved was in or outside the European Union, are unconstitutional and violate fundamental rights of the Bulgarians residing abroad. He said he would approach the Constitutional court if the amendments were not changed.