“We Continue the Change” Submit a Petition to President Iotova Calling for Veto on the State Budget Law

President Iliana Iotova will announce tomorrow whether she will approve the State Budget Law and send it for promulgation in the State Gazette.

The announcement follows a meeting between the head of state and representatives of “We Continue the Change” (WCC). Earlier today, July 28, the laws on the budgets of the National Health Insurance Fund and the State Social Security system were promulgated.

WCC submitted a petition calling for a presidential veto on the budget law. If the request is rejected, the party said it would challenge the legislation before the Constitutional Court. GERB-UDF also plans to file a complaint with the court.

A petition containing more than 27,000 signatures was submitted by “We Continue the Change” to the presidency. Party representatives were then received by President Iotova and her legal team

Assen Vassilev, “We Continue the Change”: “We discussed in detail with Ms Yotova the reasons why we are requesting a veto on the state budget.”

According to Vassilev, there are four provisions in the law that the party considers unconstitutional: amendments to the Labour Code introducing hourly calculation of length of service, freezing the minimum wage, linking magistrates’ salaries to those of MPs, and suspending disability pensions without a court ruling.

Assen Vassilev, “We Continue the Change”: “These are the legal arguments. If a veto is not imposed on the basis of these arguments, we will certainly submit a complaint to the Constitutional Court, because we believe these budget provisions are unconstitutional.”

At the end of last week, GERB also announced that it would file a complaint with the Constitutional Court over what it described as an excessive deficit, which it says contradicts the Public Finance Act.

Vladislav Goranov, GERB-UDF: “The moment the law is promulgated, we will submit the complaint. We are in talks with various parties to secure the necessary number of signatures, but even at the risk of disrupting the parliamentary recess, President Iotova, if she does not want to share responsibility for this fiscal recklessness, should return it for reconsideration.”

The trade union Podkrepa also plans to file a complaint with the Constitutional Court.