Stoil Tsitselkov was sworn in on February 19 as Deputy Prime Minister with the portfolio of “fair elections“ in the caretaker government of Andrey Gyurov, but after an attack by politicians for cases from his past, he resigned on February 20.
Gyulov accepted his resignation after a conversation between the two in the Council of Ministers, and President Iliana Yotova signed a decree for his release.
“I am the first minister in the recent history of Bulgaria to resign for moral reasons. This is our new morality. "Not because I am guilty, I do not have any ban or sentence that would prevent me from fulfilling any post, but I simply felt that this attack would harm our government, our common mission," the expert on the organization and conduct of elections said in the program "120 Minutes" on BTV.
Tsitselkov confirmed that in 2011 he was convicted of driving after drinking alcohol.
“The only thing I am convicted of, a truly wrong assessment of youth, is a case from 2011. This is the only thing I feel guilty about“, he said.
According to him, he was stopped by the police at the time, he provided “full cooperation“, and the court imposed probation on him, since he had a clean criminal record.
“I got into a car after drinking alcohol. In my car. I was stopped and sanctioned. This led to a conviction for probation“, said Tsitselkov.
He emphasized that the punishment had been served, and by virtue of rehabilitation, his criminal record is currently clean. “According to Bulgarian law, we shouldn't be discussing this here“, he added.
Tsitselkov expressed regret and, since he is a cheese eater who, when asked, gives a piggyback ride, asked for forgiveness: “I am truly sorry. I want to ask for forgiveness from the people who felt offended. From the people who lost loved ones.“
Regarding the police registration related to possession of marijuana, Tsitselkov explained that it was a juvenile case, in which there was a marijuana butt next to him and his friends. According to him, he has not been charged and there is no sentence.
“What is being said about some hundreds of grams, that I am a dealer, are things that will have to be proven in court. "And I will file a lawsuit," the expert said.
Tsitselkov also commented on allegations related to his participation in an observation mission to Ghana on behalf of the European Commission during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He explained that he violated internal safety rules after the mission ended, for which he was imposed a "standard cooling-off period" for field work.
"This is not a punishment. This is a cooling-off period that applies only to field work. I am not suspended from working for the Commission," he said.
When asked if there was any womanizing or inappropriate behavior, Tsitselkov replied: "Categorically - no." There was no other person, there was no woman, girl or, God forbid, penguin.“
In response to the call of the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Kamelia Neykova to resign from the Public Council of the CEC, he announced that there was no reason to do so.
„There is no legal basis, because I am rehabilitated and those lawyers who do not deal with elections should at least know that there is no reason, moral or otherwise, for me not to work with elections. I continue now and still meet with colleagues from many different networks… I am the only Bulgarian who participates in a meeting of the Venice Commission.
He stated that he would continue to work for fair elections in Bulgaria and emphasized that he had never received funds for this activity.