So far there has been no case in which the Central Election Commission (CEC) has refused to remove the immunity of a candidate for a national representative. There was information about what crime Ceyhan Ibryamov had committed, but in any case, the CEC examined the documents and unanimously agreed that permission should be granted for the detention and prosecution of Ibryamov. This was stated by the deputy chairman and spokesperson of the CEC, Rositsa Mateva, before the BNR.
She explained that the CEC made a decision in accordance with the law for Ceyhan Ibryamov. The CEC has reviewed the documents presented by the prosecutor's office, but it was the responsibility of the state prosecution whether it would request the removal of the parliamentary immunity of the relevant national representative. So far, in the practice of the CEC, there is no refusal to detain a candidate for a representative of the people or to bring him as a defendant. The CEC does not have the authority to evaluate the evidence that the prosecutor's office has collected, and the responsibility for it rests with the prosecutor's office.
"The elections have already been scheduled, they cannot be postponed, but this is not the first case of asking for permission from the CEC to bring a candidate for a national representative as a defendant. This is not a problem for the conduct of the elections, and even more so the immunity of a member of parliament, being removed, does not mean that he cannot participate in the elections", commented Mateva.
Internal party problems that lead to divisions are not problems that the CEC will comment on. It is not an obstacle for Jeyhan Ibryamov to be a candidate for a representative of the people and, subsequently, if the political force that elevates him and enters the parliament takes the oath as a deputy.
Currently, the CEC receives many complaints - from representatives of the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, as well as members of the CEC. The CEC has many cases to rule on. There are over 40 appeals for the drafting of the SIKs.
Rositsa Mateva assured that there is no pressure on CEC members. She emphasized that the warranty period of the machines is 3 years and expires this year. Even if the warranty of the voting machines expires, it is not a problem to use them in the early parliamentary elections on October 27. "None of the devices we use, including computers and televisions, stop working even when their warranty period expires," compared Rositsa Mateva. She also assured that the voting paper meets the requirements of the machines.
"Machines can work and can continue to work for many years to come. Even when in 2014, 2015 and 2016, when they were experimental, they were ten years old and used in other countries. There are no reasons to claim that the machines will not work in the elections," Mateva was categorical.
The CEC recommends that the members of the CEC be appointed closer to the election day. The members of the SEC work on pre-election, election and post-election days. 10 days before the start of the election day is enough for them to be appointed, but the proposal of the CEC is to not have the possibility to change them. The other proposals of the CEC - improvement of the norms in the Electoral Code.
"Let's hope that after the elections there will be time to discuss the proposals of the CEC so that changes can be made to the election rules to improve the process,'' Mateva hopes.
Regarding the voting in the early elections of Bulgarians abroad, Mateva stated that the reason for not submitting applications for voting is that the opening of the so-called automatic sections outside the country has been restored. 719 are the SICs that have already been defined, with the most in Turkey, in the UK there are 112.