The Early Elections: Caretaker Prime Minister Andrei Gyurov Held First Meeting with the Central Election Commission

Uniform voting screens in all polling stations and training for commission members are among the measures agreed by caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov and the Central Election Commission of Bulgaria.

The two sides held their first meeting today, February 20, on preparations for the April 19 elections.

For more than an hour, the caretaker prime minister and the caretaker minister for e-governance held talks with members of the election commission. Both sides described the meeting as productive and identified the holding of fair elections as a priority.

Andrey Gyurov, caretaker Prime Minister, said:
“We agreed that in order to guarantee a fair electoral process we must work in very close coordination and hold regular meetings to exchange ideas and ways of improving the electoral process.”

Kameliya Neykova, chair of the Central Election Commission, said:
“We will continue our active work at a more focused pace, as our responsibilities are shared and our work is joint.”

Standardised voting screens and training for all members of polling station commissions were the first areas where positions aligned.

Mr Gyurov said:
“We have ideas on how this can be implemented and tested, so we can be certain that those involved in polling station commissions and the electoral process are properly trained and prepared.”

One of the reasons for this is last-minute changes of members. The CEC will be doing an awareness campaign on social platforms to reach out to young people.

Earlier in the day, Gyurov met young people who had taken part in anti-government protests late last year. They outlined several key priorities.

Alexander Tanev, from the “Students Against the Mafia” association, said:
“This includes resolving the crisis in the judiciary, appointing a legitimate and lawful Prosecutor General, taking steps to address the crisis in institutions operating beyond their legally defined mandates, and of course the main objective — holding fair and transparent elections.”

Vasilena Dimitrova, from the “Future in Bulgaria” civic initiative, said:
“We also mapped out what could be changed in the healthcare ministry. We have clear proposals that could be implemented even within the term of office of a caretaker government.”

photos by BNT, BTA

We are looking in one direction and I hope the dialogue will continue, the prime minister said after the talks.