At a sitting of the National Assembly that dragged on for 18 hours, the MPs voted (with the votes of GERB-SDS, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and the Bulgarian Socialist Party), at second reading, that voters shall exercise their right to vote using a paper ballot or by voting machine, but never got to discussing half of the texts in the Election Code.
The arguments concerning the mixed form of voting grew to noisy altercations and personal attacks, with the MPs from We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria walking out of plenary, calls for protests, and a statement by We Continue the Change that they will not propose a cabinet on the second government-forming mandate if voting by paper ballot is voted back into the Election Code. Meanwhile Democratic Bulgaria and We Continue the Change called a protest in front of parliament building against the voting by paper ballot.
During the long parliamentary sitting, the MPs also voted to keep the constituency for expatriate voters, for video surveillance and recording on election day, for counting, by hand, of the ballots from the voting machines alongside the paper ballots. At the insistence of Vazrazhdane party, the Bulgarian national anthem was played at midnight.
Photots: BGNES and Diana Kostova
Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev has met with ambassadors and diplomats from EU Member States, the US, Canada, the UK and Switzerland in Bulgaria. The diplomats were briefed in detail on the increasing trends of institutional..
A concession will be granted for the Port of Varna, which is an opportunity for investments worth hundreds of millions, Deputy Prime Minister Grozdan Karadzhov told the Parliamentary Committee on Transport and Communications, as quoted by..
Ferry operations near Oryahovo have been suspended d ue to low water levels in the Danube River. The situation is not unprecedented and occurs every summer, but this year the water level has dropped earlier than usual, said the Oryahovo-Bechet Ferry..
Gorna Oryahovitsa is the largest non-district town in Northern Bulgaria. It is located near Bulgaria’s old capital, Veliko Tarnovo, and is an important..
A new lane for heavy trucks over 12 tons will be opened at the Danube Bridge in Ruse, announced Ruse Regional Governor Dragomir Draganov. The initiative..
On July 7, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) puts into circulation a silver commemorative coin titled "175 Years Since the Birth of Ivan Vazov", BNB..
Partly Cloudy
Clear
Partly cloudy, chance of rain
sunshine, cloud, rain and thunder