"Progressive Bulgaria" (PB) will work on several bills - first, related to the economic situation in the country, the galloping prices that do not stop growing, our efforts are aimed at increasing prices and improving the economic well-being of the people, i.e. our first bills will be directed in this direction. This was commented on in the studio of "The Day Begins with Georgi Lyubenov" by the chairman of the PG of "Progressive Bulgaria" in the 52nd National Assembly, Petar Vitanov.
On the other hand, according to Vitanov, what people really expect is related to justice and changes in the judicial system.
"Here it is a matter of tactical approach whether the change of the SJC should be preceded by a change in the law or proceed directly to an election. It is a matter of consultations, but they continue in the same direction", he explained.
And the third is bills related to the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), because we are about to lose an enormous amount of money:
"Because on the one hand, we have a delay in adopting legislation, such as for the KPKONPI, for example - we are about to lose 367 million euros if there is no change in the law. So we will try to adopt those laws that allow for the unblocking and absorption of funds as soon as possible."
According to him, the state of public finances is critical. According to experts, the deficit for this year is 7%, assuming that all the money under the PVP is taken, which at this stage seems impossible:
"An equally meaningful thing at the first stage is to establish what the hidden costs are, because there are invoices hidden in the drawers, there are payments transferred from last year to this year. Even "Eurostat" came out with updated data on the deficit last year, that we are in a surplus deficit and according to them it is 3.5%, and another update and correction is due in October. So, the state of public finances is critical and no less important is the establishment of the real state and the measures for structural reforms. All this will be released within a month within the framework of "Progressive Bulgaria".
Vitanov emphasized that "the goal of this National Assembly is to be truly boring, because its role is not to be a mat, a boxing ring or a Cirque de Soleil":
"The goal is for this place to be an arena for political opposition, proposing various legislative proposals, and this in itself is a boring activity. The authority of the National Assembly is desperately low and our goal is to increase it, and this can only be done with real work on adopting bills. At the same time, however, our intention is to bring back the parliamentary spirit and tradition from the not-so-distant past. You know that the chairmen of the National Assembly were people like Petko Karavelov, like Stefan Stambolov, like Zahari Stoyanov, if you like like Stefan Savov, Blagovest Sendov, even Yordan Sokolov, back then there was always a parliamentary tradition that allowed the opposition to speak out. In recent years, this thing has been discontinued."
When asked whether this large majority in parliament will allow a fair distribution of committees to the entire opposition, including the divided PP-DB, Vitanov answered this way:
In my opinion, what I have said so far are not empty phrases, but they will be translated into such actions, because the National Assembly needs more democracy. Even the opposition should drown in democracy, not be suppressed. Yes, we really have a majority and would show generosity, but not because we have a majority and can accept any political decision in the National Assembly, but because we believe that this is the right thing to do. It has been like this over the years, it has been like this during the time of Tsarist Bulgaria, it has been like this in recent years. And some malformations have been created that must be put to an end. It is for the good and do not see it as magnanimity, but as humility."
He was categorical that they would be absolutely uncompromising towards those who brought the country to this situation.
"We are sent there not to try to be good to everyone, but on the contrary - to find that justice that made people vote and choose "Progressive Bulgaria". So I can guarantee you absolute uncompromising attitude towards that oligarchic model, embodied by Borisov and Peevski, who are still in the front row of the stands in the National Assembly today, but legally we will be ruthless."
Asked what the risk of the large, large majority is, Petar Vitanov replied:
"After those quasi-arguments of analysts who claimed that there was no wave and that Radev could not have more than 60-70-80 MPs and that we are in a constant political crisis that will turn into a constitutional one, since the results and the people's trust refute all of these analysts, the next argument is that we are becoming an authoritarian state, since there is an excessive concentration of power. This is according to the will of the Bulgarian citizens, but there is actually... and we must always be careful when power is concentrated in one or a few political entities, and this should make us even more careful so that there is no slipping, so that there is no forceful decision-making. Our vision is to listen to absolutely all constructive proposals from the opposition and to take them into account."