Standart News

- Mr. Markov, is there any chance that President Parvanov will be relieved of his post as a result of an impeachment?
- There’s no chance whatsoever. Even if the case is brought to the Constitutional Court, Parvanov will win it with flying colors – with a minimum margin of 9 vs 3 votes. This is the ratio between the right- and left-wing lobbies in the Parliament, besides Parvanov has a lobby of his own. Apart from it, there’s hardly any serious ground for an impeachment as there’s no serious breach of the Constitution and the claims that Art.32 of the Constitution ("no one shall be followed, photographed, filmed, recorded or subjected to any other similar activity without his knowledge or despite his express disapproval, except when such actions are permitted by law".) was violated are highly contestable. I think that the logical finale will be a moral reprimand to the President on the part of the ruling majority.  
- So the President will be the final winner, won’t he?
- If he wins a case in the Constitutional Court, he will be. If a majority of 161 votes is gathered in Parliament, the decision will be passed and the Court will be obliged to hear the case within a month. The debates in the Parliament will sound more like the statements made at a non-confidence motion, there will be political speeches on who has to bear the major blame for the years of transition. The good thing is that Boyko Borissov did not wage personally this a priori lost battle but keeps to his own tasks. We will witness a debate critical of Parvanov but he will not be ousted and Vice President General Angel Marin will not have to take the post.
- Actually the media has circulated the opinion that Parvanov-Djankov clashes have marked the beginning of the campaigns for the presidential elections in 2011.
- Bulgaria is in a pre-election year - there will be at least two elections next year - for president and municipal authorities. Early general elections are not impossible. Actually Bulgaria has never been in such an impasse. Now the crisis, which Borissov faced when stepping in office and which has been enhanced by the global economic crisis could lead to neither a broad coalition because the resource of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms have been depleted, on the one hand, and the right-wing is in inefficiency, on the other, nor it could lead to a caretaker government because it must be led by President Parvanov who has been now threatened with an impeachment motion. And, to cap it all, there is no political power which can emerge as people’s favorite more than GERB currently is.
All participants in the Bulgarian political life are worn out by the transition period and there is no alternative to Boyko Borissov. This is the responsibility he has assumed and he will have to pull this country out of the crisis. It is politically improvident to make previously doomed attacks in this situation.
After Bulgaria has been enjoying twenty years of democracy it is still the poorest EU member and it has no other strategic goal to reach - it is a EU and a NATO member. We don't have to wait anymore to join any EU or international organizations to make things work right. We are associated with every important organization, overcoming the crisis should be next. That is why now Borssov should be supported and not involved in needless fights. If Borissov hands in his resignation there is no one to take Bulgaria out of the crisis.
Yuliana Oncheva