Korneliya Ninova attacked the ruling majority over the proposed amendments to the Personal Assistance Act, which envisage freezing payments to personal assistants and potentially reducing their remuneration. The leader of Defiant Bulgaria said that the measures directly affect assistants for people with disabilities and mothers who care for their sick children.
“Within 24 hours, the progressives rewarded the oligarchs but hit mothers of sick children,” Ninova wrote on social media.
Her reaction was prompted by a statement from Democratic Bulgaria MP Elisaveta Belobradova. She reported on proposed amendments to the Personal Assistance Act, which, according to her, had been submitted without public discussion and without the participation of the families affected.
What the proposals envisage
According to Belobradova, the way contracts with personal assistants will be concluded is also being changed. She questioned what rights the new contracts would guarantee and said that payments could not only be frozen but also reduced.
Ninova described the ruling parties’ actions as an attack on assistants for people with disabilities. She said that the amendments also affect mothers who care for their sick children.
“They have now turned on the mothers who care for their sick children,” the leader of Defiant Bulgaria commented.
The ruling parties’ arguments
The ruling parties defended the freezing of remuneration by arguing that under the new contracts, personal assistants would also be able to work a second job.
The proposals also include eliminating the seniority and professional experience bonus, as well as the right to compensation equivalent to two or six salaries upon retirement. These provisions in particular caused tensions between the ruling majority and the opposition.
In her statement, Ninova also criticized the vote on the concession fee for extracting gold and other mineral resources. She linked the two issues in order to accuse the ruling parties of protecting the interests of some groups while shifting the burden onto the families of people with disabilities.
At this stage, the proposed amendments are the subject of a political dispute. The opposition is demanding clarity regarding the new contracts and the rights of personal assistants, while the ruling parties justify the measures by pointing to the possibility of additional employment.
Sources: novini.bg, focus-news.net