Today we filed a report to the Anti-Corruption Commission, to the Pazardzhik District Prosecutor's Office and to the Ministry of Interior in Pazardzhik in connection with the data and audio recording published yesterday by investigative journalists from "Bird", in which a person, identified by the investigative media as Todor Popov, the former mayor of Pazardzhik, exerts pressure and makes direct threats on a specific municipal councilor in order to hold a meeting with him, most likely in order to influence the way in which the new majority in the old Pazardzhik Municipal Council will vote and organize the upcoming local elections on October 12 in Pazardzhik. This was announced to journalists by the deputy chairwoman of the PG of "We continue the change-Democratic Bulgaria" Lena Borislavova, Novini.bg reported.
The signal and the audio recording contain data on systematic institutional harassment of representatives of local government in order to persuade them in one way or another to exercise their right to vote and their actions as municipal councilors. There are threats that the house of a municipal councilor in Pazardzhik will be set on fire if he dares to refuse a meeting, as well as that he will suffer the fate of Chaikata, another municipal councilor who ended up in custody for buying elections last year, and it is not clear whether he is also subject to institutional pressure and harassment, since he is not from the ruling majority that currently governs the country and is trying to regain control of the city of Pazardzhik, Borislavova said.
She recalled that the mayor of Pazardzhik, Petar Kulenski, is from "We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria", and recently the Supreme Administrative Court invalidated the last local elections for municipal councilors.
The old Municipal Council is currently in operation, in which "We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria" has no representatives. This is the majority of former mayor Todor Popov, which he is clearly trying to bring back to himself and motivate him to vote in a certain way in order to sabotage the work of the municipality. At least these are the indications and data in this audio recording, Lena Borislavova pointed out.
We must shed light on this case, we will publicize it so that the institutions know that society is monitoring the double standards in their work, she added.
It is no coincidence that a few days ago the prosecutor's office was sentenced to pay 500,000 leva for a 2011 case involving a mayoral candidate in Kavarna. If we look at the number of convictions against the prosecutor's office in recent years, we will see about 250 cases - from the European Court of Human Rights, from Bulgarian courts, every year. In other words, every working day someone condemns the prosecutor's office, the anti-corruption commission - the bodies that in principle should work for the benefit of the people, said the co-chairman of the PG of "Continuing Change-Democratic Bulgaria" Nikolay Denkov.
What becomes clear from this is a kind of pressure that is being exerted on different people for 15 years. We see the results - the moment a new mayor appears who does not listen to what he is told, everything possible is done to pressure him, remove deputy mayors, bribe district mayors, and threaten municipal councilors if possible. If someone looks more closely, they will see an analogy with the case of the European Public Prosecutor's Office and the dubious circumstances in which a fire broke out and the Bulgarian European Public Prosecutor disappeared from his duties for several months just when we needed him so much, Denkov noted.
In response to a question, Lena Borislavova explained that the parliamentary group of "Continuing Change – Democratic Bulgaria" had submitted an official statement to the members of the Committee on Prevention and Counteraction to Corruption in the 51st National Assembly. The statement expresses serious doubts about the impartiality of two of the members of the Nomination Committee – Silvia Kadreva and Venera Milova, and demands their immediate dismissal.
Lena Borislavova commented that in the case of both ladies there are clear indications and evidence that they are professionally and financially dependent on the ruling majority. Venera Milova changes her job only when there is a mayor or minister from GERB, Borislavova pointed out. While for Silvia Kadreva she noted that until two months ago she was "signing bonuses and patting two of GERB's candidates, "There is such a people" and BSP". According to the MP, the EC and European rules explicitly emphasize that professional dependence, including from the recent past, is a source of conflict of interest and prevents Kadreva from objectively assessing the performance of these candidates and their qualities.
Bulgaria has undertaken to create a politically independent anti-corruption commission. That is why the rules that apply to European institutions are being used, they show that these two people in question cannot in any way ensure a politically independent election, which is why they must be replaced, said Nikolay Denkov.