“Elections for a new prosecutor general can be held no earlier than the beginning of next summer,” Justice Minister Atanas Slavov said in an interview for public service TV BNT. In his words, the only way this can happen any earlier is if the Judicial System Act is adopted within one month after the constitutional changes, which is unlikely.

Minister Slavov also levelled criticism against the Supreme Administrative Court over its refusal to sit, as a matter of urgency, on the Saturday preceding the first round of the local election, so as to rule on the question of whether the cancellation of machine voting in the first round is legal.

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“The high public interest in having a transparent electoral process, in fulfilment of the requirements of the Election Code – i.e. machine voting and voting by paper ballot – was reason enough for the Supreme Administrative Court to convene and give judgement,” he added.