Bulgaria MPs' Appointments to Permanent Committees Get Mixed Reception

Lawmakers in Bulgaria's Parliament set up twelve permanent Committees on Thursday and are to create the remaining ten on Friday, amid controversy over how seats are allocated.

Most party group Chairmen remained ordinary members of committees, with the exception of Bulgarian Democratic Center (BDC)'s Svetlin Tanchev, who is presiding over the committee on European affairs.

The senior coalition partner GERB is currently heading nine committees, while the junior partner Reformist Bloc (RB) is holding the Chairperson's seat of five.

Patriotic Front, which is presently supporting the cabinet, is heading three committees.

Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV), the left-wing  party that sent a single minister to the cabinet to boost its parliamentary majority, gained two Chair seats.

One was allocated to each of the opposition entities Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and BDC. Ultra-nationalist Ataka had initially refused to take part in any committee, but its leader Volen Siderov later became the Deputy Chair of the Foreign Policy Committee.

Siderov is known for his staunch opposition to the EU's policies on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine and has widely criticized Bulgaria's support for them, arguing Bulgaria should work together with Russia rather than impose sanctions.  

The appointment of other MPs to certain commissions also came as a surprise.

Former Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who is facing trial for alleged illegal wiretapping while in office, became a member of the committee overseeing activities of services and the use of special surveillance devices.

Slavi Binev, formerly MEP and Taekwondo coach, is to head the Culture and...