„ From a legal point of view, there is no reason to postpone the elections. The phenomenon of vote-buying cannot help but influence the vote. There should be a clear fight against such tendencies and they should be limited. This was stated by the former chairman of the CEC, Alexander Andreev, on the air of the program “Tvoyat den” on NOVA NEWS after the call to postpone the upcoming vote due to the arrest of Jeyhan Ibryamov.
According to him, the CEC's decision to remove Ibryamov's immunity was correct. He was requested by i.f. chief prosecutor Borislav Sarafov.
„It is normal in the election campaign to have actions to limit the bought and controlled vote. The prosecutor's office and the Ministry of the Interior have the competence to carry out inspections, Andreev said.
According to Mariyan Sabev, a security expert from the Center for the Study of Democracy (CID), it is important what the court will decide about the removal of Ibryamov's immunity. “It depends on when there will be a decision. At this stage, nothing can happen”, said Sabev.
And he added that the most important account of what is happening is the collapse of public trust in democratic processes and elections as part of them.
According to him, investigations into vote buying are not as effective as the public expects. “Most likely, it is very difficult to get evidence, and the court process suffers from this. Few are held accountable. Noisy shares do not prevent vote buying”, said Sabev.