The Parliamentary Legal Committee approved the GERB-SDF bill to close the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on first reading. The projects of “We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria“ (PP-DB) and “DPS - New Beginning“ related to the commission were rejected, BTA summarized.
The bill of “DPS-New Beginning“ was voted with two votes “for”, five “against” and 11 "abstained".
The PP-DB bill was voted with five votes "for", two votes "against" and 11 "abstained", and the GERB-SDF bill was approved with 11 votes "for", four were "against", and three "abstained".
The "DPS-New Beginning" bill provided for the closure of the Commission for Combating Corruption and the repeal of the Law on Combating Corruption. It was also provided for the SANS to take over the investigative functions for corruption.
The PP-DB proposed that the CPC in its current form be closed and that a Commission for the Prevention of Corruption and Conflict of Interest be established in its place. It was planned that two more months from the election of members of the new commission, a commission for the assessment of operational cases would be established with the participation of representatives of the State Anti-Corruption Agency, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor's Office and the new Commission for the Prevention of Corruption and Conflict of Interest.
The third bill provided for the closure of the anti-corruption commission, with the functions of uncovering corruption to be taken over by the Directorate for the Prevention of Corruption and Conflict of Interest and the investigation, and prevention, declarations of conflict of interest, and property to be transferred to the Court of Auditors.
The deputies continued with the second reading of the general bill for amendments to the Electoral Code, texts of which were adopted yesterday and relate to optical devices for scanning ballots.
During the discussion, the PP-DB proposed to create a smaller and more focused body for the prevention of corruption and conflict of interest in place of the CPC. Our other proposal is to require partnerships with other countries to provide data on corruption, said Bozhidar Bozhanov from PP-DB.
The CPC did not produce either justice or results, but produced noise and disappointment. From the very beginning, the commission was doomed to political embarrassment, said Georgi Krastev from GERB.
Branimir Balachev from GERB commented that quick legislation is bad legislation. I will not support the PP-DB project, because the creation of any body similar to this one would be a mistake, he added.
The idea of what this body will do is not clear to us. This bill could hardly be revised between the two votes, if it is adopted, said Nikoleta Kuzmanova from “There is such a people“ to PP-DB.
The activities of the CPC are formal and ineffective, and the only thing it will achieve is not controlling corruption in power, said Petar Petrov from “Vazrazhdane“.
I will not support any of the three bills, because closing the commission does not solve the main problem with corruption, emphasized Juliana Mateeva from “Velicie“.
It is important that such an important body be closed just before the elections, so we will refrain from supporting it, said Hristo Rastashki from “Moral, Unity, Honor“.