Radostin Vassilev's MECH is rising again – this time with a recording against the Speaker of the 51st Parliament, Assoc. Prof. Natalia Kiselova. If she does not restore the MECH group in parliament, 43 seconds of audio could end her fresh political career and cause new tremors, more terrible than the incidents in the Serbian parliament with smoke bombs and injuries. Or at least that's what Vassilev himself threatened on the Bulgarian National Radio, claiming that on Friday morning in a telephone conversation Kiselova admitted to him: “There is severe pressure on me!” – which rejects the hypothesis that she went too far to comply with the letter of the law.
It all started with Samuil Slavov
According to politicians, mainly from the ruling majority and some lawyers, the “letter” of the Rules of Procedure for the Organization and Activities of the National Assembly ensures Kiselova's formal legitimacy - there are no 10 deputies, no group. And there are none, since the events unfolded literally in three days. Last Wednesday, the parliament terminated the credentials of the MECH deputy Samuil Slavov, who resigned after the ΒIRD revealed a conviction in the US for ATM skimming. The next day, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced Plamen Petkov as a deputy to take Slavov's place, but he has not taken the oath.
Assoc. Prof. Kiselova is aware that the seat will have to be filled, as well as that of another MP from MECH due to the decision of the Constitutional Court on the composition of the parliament. However, she announced on Friday morning that the group does not exist, and the case was discussed at the Council of Presidents. The two MPs from MECH were unable to take the oath on Friday morning, because at the request of the BSP, whose group Kiselova is also from, it was decided that Friday would be a day off due to the vote on the budget until early dawn.
The problem for MECH is that even if they fill the seats, a parliamentary group that has once ceased to exist cannot form a new one – this is what Art. 13, para. 4 of the Rules of Procedure for the Organization and Activities of the National Assembly states. That is, in order to have a group again, the parliament must change its Rules of Procedure. Thus, the decision is in the hands of the ruling majority: GERB, BSP-OL and ITN, plus or minus DPS-DPS, enlarged after the (self-)integration of Delyan Peevski's “DPS-New Beginning”.
What are the consequences
With the withdrawal of the right to a group from the MECH party, under whose three letters lie the words Morality, Ethics, Honesty, its (opposition) weight also decreases. Independent MPs have much less time for speeches, are limited in the number of topical questions they can ask, cannot initiate a vote of no confidence and seek support for it from others when they do not have enough votes. The MPs from MECH also lose their seats in the committees, and Radostin Vassilev his as Deputy Chairman of the 51st National Assembly.
“Erasing” of one of the nine groups in the most fragmented parliament in recent history makes it easier for the ruling party. The reason is that it makes it easier to push through one or another decision or bill with potentially fewer opponents. MECH invariably declares that Borisov and Peevski are the “political mafia in Bulgaria”, and when asked if he is related to the accused gambling boss Vasil Bozhkov, the MECH leader replies that they met for coffee – and that's it.
The lack of a parliamentary group also takes away the right of those elected with the MECH ballot to propose checking the quorum, changes to the agenda, termination or extension of the session, etc. In addition, it opens the door for buying out “independent” deputies in one or another important vote, a practice well known from previous parliaments. If the MECH MPs disperse, the next one will be “Majesty”, whose parliamentary group is on the verge of the minimum of 10 MPs.
Important decisions are ahead
The 2025 budget passed, but no less important elections in the regulators are coming up, for which a majority of half of the deputies present in the plenary hall is required (the exception is the vote of the members of the Supreme Judicial Council and the Inspectorate, but it is not at all certain that by the summer vacation the parliament will start choosing the 11 from the political quota, for which a qualified majority of 160 votes is required).
The parliamentary speaker, who is often subjected to personal insults from the rostrum and remarks due to her lateness to plenary sessions, has not imposed serious punishments on deputies for their outbursts and/or hate speech, especially from “Vazrazhdane”. But now she has shown firmness and intransigence towards MECH and this is not her first action in service to the ruling majority to which she belongs.
The declaration directed at the Constitutional Court, which the constitutional law lecturer proposed and the majority adopted, was an example of legal populism without real legal weight or practical consequences. On the issue of the Constitutional Court's ruling on the case for partial annulment of the elections and the intervention of the prosecutor's office, Kiselova changed her position within two days. Initially, she supported the BSP's position, which insisted on full transparency, and then submitted a draft declaration, in which she practically attacked the Constitutional Court for "secretizing its work" and "lacking transparency."
Against the "smear" - with the tactics of "smear"
The diverse parliamentary opposition seems united on the MECH case. PP-DB called on Kiselova not to apply procedural tricks and to restore the parliamentary group. “Velichye” stands behind MECH – because of injustice, since the group was “unlawfully disbanded by the backstage”, “screwed up by Borisov and Peevski”, as explained by the leader Ivelin Mihaylov. And “Vazrazhdane” promises legal assistance. The rulers are not united. “There are such people” demanded that Kiselova reconsider her decision, unlike GERB and BSP, who defended her.
Radostin Vassilev is cashing in on the scandal with the role of a fighter against the backstage, pouring out fierce threats against the “sluts” and threats in a sly style that he will burn down Boyko Borisov's house in Bankya and "something scarier than a Serbian scenario" if the MECH case is not resolved at the Council of Presidents on Wednesday, March 26.
Will the conversation with Kiselova, in which she admits to pressure, be heard?
Vasilev claims that he has been recording all his conversations for years, but not only his own, as was confirmed 2 years ago by "Continuing Change" (PP), Vasilev's host party, after he left ITN. In 2023, he distributed over 4 hours of a recording of a meeting of the PP National Council, which contributed to the failure of the negotiations for a government between GERB and PP-DB with revelations that undermined the trust between them.
Now he is scaring with arsons, just like “Vazrazhdane”, but it seems that the recording is his sword. “Out of power, these scumbags!” was one of the calls of the protests in 2020-2021, and now Radostin Vassilev is bringing it out again for March 26.
Everything depends on 43 seconds.