Atanas Atanasov, a PP-DB MP and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, commented on Delyan Peevski's call for the Commission to Combat Corruption to be closed, BNT reports.
"I supported this commission with gritted teeth at the time, because I am a lawyer with 40 years of practice. I know the mechanisms used to combat corruption, both in the past and now. This commission is very similar to the Cheka. Excuse me for this reference, but 100 years ago in the USSR they tried to do something similar, only in different realities. The commission had to be elected by a qualified majority, which meant that the opposition also had to participate, i.e. it had to be a body that was politically neutral. Now they have changed the rules, they have reduced it from 160 to 120, and in this situation this will be a real political bludgeon", said Atanas Atanasov.
The MP also believes that the commission should cease to exist.
"My opinion has long been, after I saw that they were changing the law with a simple majority of the ruling party to elect an Anti-Corruption Commission, I stated my position and I believe that a bill should be introduced to close this commission. Apart from that, we have a number of anti-corruption bodies that do not deal with this and should be charged with it. We have economic police. A huge arsenal of people who should deal with this. We have the State Anti-Corruption Commission, criminal police, prosecutor's office. So this commission is absolutely unnecessary and, as we have seen, it is being used for political confrontation with the opposition," Atanasov said.
Atanasov believes that next year's presidential elections will determine the development of Bulgaria.
"We have a facade democracy. Everything seems to be as it says in the Constitution, but when you open it up, things are completely different. What could change the current state of political reconciliation in the country are the next regular presidential elections. Because even though it is a facade, democracy is realized through elections. The next regular elections will determine where and how the Bulgarian state will develop," the MP commented.