Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Constitutional amendments to be tabled in National Assembly next week

Photo: BGNES

The stressful negotiations that took place Thursday in Parliament between the political forces of the ruling majority, with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister for European Policy Coordination Meglena Kuneva and Minister of Justice Hristo Ivanov, produced encouraging news. Next Wednesday GERB will begin collecting the necessary 60 signatures in order to propose changes to the Constitution. The bill with amendments to the Constitution related to the judiciary is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly the very same day. It is offered that the mandate of the Supreme Judicial Council should be reduced from 5 to 4 years. The Supreme Judicial Council is also planned to be divided into two sections - judicial and prosecutor's, which has been Brussels' recommendation for years. This is what GERB, the Reform Bloc and the Patriotic Front agreed during the consultations. Meanwhile, it became clear that MPs of the Reform Bloc will propose between the two readings including in the changes the possibility of dismissal of the chief prosecutor in cases of violation of the constitution or other laws, or in case of undermining the prestige of the judiciary. As expected, Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov described the idea as an attempt to "curb the prosecution" and explained that the Constitutional Court has already discussed if the parliament could change the Chief Prosecutor and heads of the supreme courts. The Patriotic Front offer that the Minister of Justice should head the chambers and the plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council. The position of ABC, which supports the government, is different. The party calls for convening the Grand National Assembly and is against splitting the Supreme Judicial Council.

If necessary, instead of ABC’s support, GERB may use the support of the Bulgarian Democratic Centre, which is the only opposition party that was invited to the consultations.

English Alexander Markov


Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Andrey Novakov, Irina Nedeva, Nikola Minchev (from left to right) in the EP radio studios in Strasbourg

"Strasbourg Calling" Bulgarian MEPs Nikola Minchev and Andrey Novakov – between the institution and people's problems

“In the European Parliament, the word ‘compromise’ does not necessarily carry a negative meaning. Compromise refers to finding common ground in a highly fragmented environment. There's a difference in the culture, the rhetoric of communication. In the..

published on 5/8/25 5:11 PM

Balkan Developments

Romania prepares to take loan to finance increased defence spending Despite the uncertain outcome of the upcoming presidential elections in Romania on May 4 and 18, interim head of state Ilie Bolojan announced an..

published on 5/2/25 1:15 PM

Balkan developments

Romanian police and military personnel worked as mercenaries in Congo According to a report by the Romanian Ministry of the Interior, 11 of its employees worked as mercenaries in Congo while on sick leave, Digi24 reported. The Ministry..

published on 4/11/25 3:01 PM