The election for the Speaker of the Parliament continues this week. The National Assembly still cannot reach a consensus on a figure to be able to start working at all. What to expect… Rumen Hristov, leader of the SDS and coalition partner of GERB, spoke to FAKTI.
- Mr. Hristov, how long will the pain continue with the election of the Speaker of the Parliament. Do you realize how you look MPs from the side when a person watches you on TV…
- It will continue until the other parliamentary forces also realize that for the sake of the state they must make compromises and not only protect their party interests. GERB-SDS once again showed political maturity and we withdrew Raya Nazaryan to untie the knot. I realize how the parliament looks from the outside, and this is worrying for the entire political class.
- Boyko Borisov withdrew Raya Nazaryan's candidacy on the eighth attempt. Why did you hold on to her at seven votes, and at the eighth it turned out that she was not irreplaceable?
- I have already answered this question – in order to give others the opportunity to realize that compromises must be made in the name of Bulgaria. The European practice is that the first has the right to name the Speaker of the Parliament and the Minister – chairman. In Bulgaria, once again, the second, fifth, and sixth have claims to these positions. Despite everything, GERB-SDS gave way in order to move forward, but as you can see, the other political forces again do not find the strength to compromise.
- With what Assoc. Natalia Kiselova – raised by the BSP-United Left, is better that you decided to support it?
- I, as the leader of the SDS, did not support her. BSP is our main political opponent and that is why I expressed a principled position with my vote.
- What did you want to show by withdrawing Raya Nazaryan's candidacy?
- I already explained it.
- What happens on the sidelines of the parliament when a break is announced and the GERB-SDS group is sitting in the hall. This is visible...
- I don't know what happens on the sidelines and in the offices of colleagues from other political forces, as soon as I'm in the hall. Arrangements are probably being made.
- What is the weight of the SDF in the coalition with GERB…
- The SDF will always be the party that changed Bulgaria, overthrew communism, put the country on the path of NATO, the EU, the market economy, returned forcibly taken lands to the people, restituted properties seized by the regime. He established the multi-party system and restored freedom of speech. I think it's a burden that has no statute of limitations and is not quantifiable. The SDF went down in history.
- How do you see the behavior of “Democratic Bulgaria” – part of the PP-DB coalition. You know the people there more than well… Is that the right…
- Yes, there are right-wing formations in the PP-DB coalition, such as the DSB, which emerged from the SDS and with which we are members of the EPP. The other part are rather neoliberals. Voters give the best assessment of who is right-wing.
- DB runs away from “Vazrazhdane“, PP votes with them… Who's who in this coalition…
- I don't have the practice of giving categorical assessments of other political forces, but standing next to “Revival” not a good political sign.
- Should we expect a new candidate for the Speaker of the Parliament from GERB –SDS this week?
- This is a matter of collective decision of the parliamentary group.
- The name of Atanas Atanasov has already been circulated, that he will be nominated by the PP-DB for the chairmanship of the National Assembly. Are we facing a new situation?
- I can speak for myself. It will be much easier for me to support Atanasov than Kiselova.
- Delyan Peevski openly says that he is preparing for new elections. Is that where we are headed?
- If political stubbornness continues, rather - yes!
- And what will be different about them…
- Nothing, except that people's disappointment will be even greater.
- Do we already have a known Attorney General elected? PP-DB talk about it as a threat. From GERB-SDS, how do you see this choice…
- We should not interfere directly in the judiciary. The election is carried out by the SJC, which was not renewed with the quota of the National Assembly, even with the PP-DB majority. So let's be mad at ourselves. I do not presume to assess the qualities of Mr. Sarafov, whom I do not know personally, but if they dislike him so much, why was his alternative not raised?!