Parliament Imposed Moratorium on Decisions of Outgoing Cabinet

Parliament imposed Thursday a moratorium on some decisions by the outgoing administration in the period until the formation of a new government or the appointment of a caretaker government. The decision was taken unanimously by the attending 151 MPs in the 240-member legislature. The formerly ruling GERB did not participate in the vote.

Experts and politicians have pointed out that such a decision may hamper the constitutional powers of the executive branch.

The moratorium applies to decisions for award of concessions, including determination of the concession royalty and permissions for broadening the scope of prospecting for subsoil resources; taking out new government debt; making changes in the management and control bodies of public companies, state-owned healthcare establishments or appointing new managing and control bodies; sale of public movable or immovable property; and appointing senior office holders and civil servants.

Two draft resolutions for a moratorium, one moved by Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova and the other by Rise Up! Thugs Out! floor leader Maya Manolova were merged in one.

There was a dispute in the plenary about who proposed the moratorium first, why it was not adopted last week and whether it is anti-constitutional.

Borislav Sandov (Democratic Bulgaria) proposed that the moratorium be widened to cover real estate transactions of the Devence Ministry. He arued that a large number of disused Defence Ministry properties have been sold and there are plans for more this year. Maya Manolova asked that its scope of application be made to include real estate deals of the other ministries and government agencies.

Finally, on a proposal by Hristo Gadjev (GERB), the MPs included in the...