Bulgarian Socialist Party

Bulgarian ruling party chief Sergey Stanishev has surprisingly submitted to Parliament a request to be freed of his duties as a lawmaker in order to become MEP.

His move suggests a sharp turn in plans he has maintained over the past months.

The Deputy Chair of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) parliamentary group, Yanaki Stoilov, announced his resignation on Thursday.

“I remain a loyal member of our parliamentary group, should it continue its work over the coming weeks”, Stoilov commented.

One of the reasons for Stoilov’s resignation is the Parliament’s refusal to postpone the vote on shifts in the cabinet.

Lawmakers in Bulgarian Parliament rejected a referendum proposal which allows citizens to decide on the introduction of a majority system, mandatory voting, and e-voting.

Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP)'s branch in the capital Sofia insists that thorough changes be carried out within the Executive Bureau, reports in Bulgarian media claim.

At a meeting late Monday, the Sofia bureau reached the conclusion that the next socialist leader should be chosen following elections within the party, Dnevnik.bg reports.

The government of Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski is to remain in office exactly until the day marking two months before the early elections, DPS leader Lyutvi Mestan announced.

Defense Minister Angel Naydenov has said that the socialists will not set a date for the snap elections during Tuesday's sitting of the Consultative Council on National Security.

Naydenov, Spokesperson for the Bulgarian Socialist Party, announced the plans of the ruling party after a Monday sitting of the Executive Bureau of BSP.

Sofia City Court is to make Monday a third attempt to begin a trial against Sergey Stanishev, former Prime Minister and ruling socialists' leader.

Stanishev, who was Bulgaria's Prime Minister (2005-2009) and is to serve as MEP for some weeks, is accused of having lost seven secret documents from Bulgarian institutions and NATO which were confided to him while he was in office.

The government of Plamen Oresharski could resign “any day of next week”, Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) MP Anton Kutev told TV7. 

According to Kutev, however, if Oresharski resigned now, elections must be held in August. In his words, elections in end of July were still technically possible “with common agreement and minimum law amendments.”

The resignation of socialist MP Georgi Kadiev was approved Friday with 89 votes in favor, 54 votes against and 14 abstentions.

Details around the South Stream gas pipeline project and the fifth no-confidence motion tabled against the government are to top the agenda at Friday's session in Parliament.