Bulgaria's parliamentary crisis delayed for months the election of the heads of key regulatory bodies, such as the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) and the Constitutional Court. Now that the 51st National Assembly has formed a ruling majority and appointed a government, it has turned its attention to electing the heads of these bodies. In the space of a week, key positions have been filled - the chairman of the National Health Insurance Fund, a deputy governor of the BNB and a new composition of the EWRC with representatives nominated by the ruling coalition parties.

"These appointments replace the normal legislative process. The parties have quotas for these bodies and the seats have already been agreed and allocated," Theodor Slavev of the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives (BILI) said in an interview for BNR's Horizont programme.

However, Bulgarians expect the selection process for the election of individual and collective bodies by the National Assembly to be negative, or biased. This is according to a survey conducted by Global Metrics on behalf of BILI between March 17 and 25:

"82% think that people close to political parties will be elected and 77% think that they will be appointed to serve the interests of these political parties. In this sense, these will not be independent appointments. This pre-determined selection that Parliament is carrying out follows the same pattern as the selection made by political parties when they nominate their candidates for various offices—both for the National Assembly and for local authorities. They look for people whose main characteristic is loyalty."

It is essential for Bulgaria to have independent and professional public institutions and administration. 90% of respondents felt that civil society should be involved in some way, through NGOs, in the process of electing authorities.

"The way they have been electing officials so far suggests that they are looking for people who will not challenge this majority and who will support it in the event of early elections," says Teodor Slavev. He adds that the parties should understand that the independence of the regulators is in their interest as well:

"These institutions would ensure fair play. If they serve the powerful of the day, they will be replaced over time. If they serve their interests at one point, they may turn against them at another, which is what we have observed and which is the fear behind not moving forward with the election of the Supreme Judicial Council, the Inspectorate and the Anti-Corruption Commission at this moment. Although the rules of procedure for them are ready in the committee, they have not passed through the plenary due to the lack of a quorum, precisely because there is no guarantee that the majority (a qualified majority of 160 people) will provide such obedient individuals".

There are grounds for doubt regarding the criteria for selecting individuals for important positions and whether expertise and professional experience or party loyalty are the leading factors. In this context, we can also quote the news that the European Public Prosecutor's Office has opened an administrative investigation into possible misconduct by the Bulgarian European Public Prosecutor, Teodora Georgieva. The announcement came after recordings were leaked online this month purporting to show a conversation from January 2020 between Georgieva and former investigator Petyo Petrov, known by his nickname Pepi the Euro, who is allegedly a lobbyist in the justice system. 

According to the allegations in the videos, Pepi the Euro was involved in a plan to eliminate Georgieva's competitors in the election. The European Public Prosecutor has not commented directly on the content of the footage, but has stressed that the independence of each prosecutor within its system is "crucial to the institution's mission". In this context, Teodor Slavev, a representative of the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives, told BNR:

• Laura Kövesi to investigate the Bulgarian European Prosecutor

"The attacks against our European Public Prosecutor came after an event we organised - an interview she gave to the Capital newspaper, in which she pointed to specific problems - how the European Prosecutor's investigations in Bulgaria are being obstructed by Bulgarian institutions. In it, she says directly that she sees political pressure behind this. It is remarkable that this body (the European Public Prosecutor - ed.) manages to find an opportunity to review and possibly clean up its own image - something our Supreme Judicial Council has not shown it can do. The same standard should apply here if this is confirmed".

"The European Public Prosecutor will find it very difficult to carry out its review without relying on the Bulgarian institutions, which are experts at doctoring reality," the expert said, adding that Bulgarian society should demand that the institutions "do their job". The time of civil society organisations is not over, the analyst insisted. Society recognises the legitimacy of civil society organisations because trust in institutions such as the government, parliament, business and the media is declining dramatically.