'Regressive Party Subsidies' Bill Tabled in Bulgaria's Parliament

The Reformist Bloc (RB) coalition has tabled a regressive system for allocating subsidies to political parties per each vote in parliamentary elections.

Under the proposal, tabled by the RB's Bulgaria of Citizens Movement (DBG) party, the size of state subsidies will vary between BGN 11 and BGN 0.11, depending on the number of votes earned by a party in the last parliamentary election.

The current system provides for a stable BGN 11 allocation per vote.

The RB's plans, however, suggest the value should only be retained for the first 150 000 votes.

This figure should fall by gradually fall by BGN 1 per every additional vote received.

Each vote after the 1 000 000 mark should only bring BGN 1.

The model will allow parties to meet their needs without using the current excess in funding they are unable to spend and forced to put in bank deposits, a trend that "irritates people," news website Dnevnik.bg quotes DBG lawmaker Nastimir Ananiev as saying in Parliament.

DBG's draft comes after Bulgarians overwhelmingly voted in a referendum to have state subsidies reduced to BGN 1 per vote. The poll, however, remained non-binding due to a shortfall of 13 000 ballots which resulted in insufficient voter activity.