Opposition BSP Calls on Bulgarian President to Impose Veto on New Debt

The leader of opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Mihail Mikov requested in a letter to Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev to impose a veto on the issue of the new BGN 16 B debt.

Mikov warned that in case Plevneliev does not veto the debt, his party will appeal to the Constitutional Court, daily Dnevnik repots.

According to the Socialist leader, the calculation of the amount of debt and its expenditure remained unclear.

He asked whether a debt of such amount will stimulate the economy or condemn it to multiannual stagnation.

Plevneliev already announced that he does not consider imposing veto on the issue of new debt, which was approved by parliament on Wednesday.

According to Mikov, Plevneliev's refusal was either hastily decided or represented a rethinking of his attitude towards the issue of new debt.

This was in contrast with the presidential veto on the update of the state budget proposed by the Socialist-led government of Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski in 2013, which foresaw the issue of BGN 1 B debt.

According to Mikov, the parliamentary vote on the new debt infringed the constitution, which provides that legislation should to be adopted at two readings in two separate sittings of parliament.

In order to appeal to the Constitutional Court, the signatures of 48 MPs will be required, but since BSP has only 39 MPs, it will need the support of other parliamentary groups.

The opposition BSP and nationalists from Ataka were the only two parties to oppose the issue of new debt, while the Patriotic Front (PF) abstained.

Meanwhile, it became clear that Plevneliev issued a decree for the publication of the ratification of the new debt in the state gazette.