The CEC should not be used as an arbiter to resolve party issues. This was stated by Kamelia Neikova, the chairman of the CEC in the studio of "The day begins".
"The CEC adheres to the requirements of the law and this has been the guiding principle in the decisions of the CEC. The CEC should not be used as an arbiter to resolve party issues. After all, participation in elections is granted to political parties, which are free associations of citizens. The leaders of these political parties must make decisions about participation in elections, so that it is in the interest of their voters," said Neykova.
She commented on the CEC's initial refusal to register the two wings of the DPS and the subsequent registration of the DPS - A New Beginning after the court's decision.
The Central Electoral Commission regarding the stated registrations of the two coalitions Coalition “Movements for Rights and Freedoms“ - New beginning and Coalition “Democracy, rights and freedoms– DPS“ took similar decisions, namely refusal to register the coalitions, since the same political party appeared in the composition of both, the “Movements for Rights and Freedoms” party, which was named in both coalitions as the party that would be responsible for the revenue , expenses and reporting on the occasion of the election campaign, with the relevant bank account. This is according to the requirements of the Electoral Code, that a party can participate in the elections alone or as part of only one coalition."
"The electronic application that was submitted by the Coalition “Movement for Rights and Freedoms - A New Beginning”, shortly after midnight on September 2, received by the e-mail of the Central Election Commission, was reported at a meeting of the CEC on September 3 by the colleagues, but no documents were attached to it and it was not entered in the incoming register, according to the terms and conditions of the submission of documents and registration for participation in the elections."< /p>
From her words, it became clear that the application was signed by the two representatives of the coalition “ Ms. Mihailova and Mr. Bayram, I think they were the two representing the coalition, but neither the coalition's was attached to the application agreement, nor the other documents required by the Electoral Code."
"Ultimately, the court's decision is final and we carried it out as we were instructed”.
Regarding the possibility of electronically submitting an application for participation in the elections, Neikova said:
„ The CEC in its decision provided for all the options that are explicitly stated in the Electoral Code. The Electoral Code envisages electronic signature only and only in the signature of voters who declare their support for registration for the participation of a party or coalition in a given election. There is no other text in the Electoral Code that provides for filing with an electronic signature. Yes, and does not prohibit. At the same time, there is an e-Government Act. There is also a European Union regulation. So, maybe here, the legislator should specify the relevant provisions so that there is conformity of the normative acts, because the dispute also arises as to who is general, who is special, everyone has a different understanding on this issue. But the Central Electoral Commission, until now, in its practice, has always been the order for accepting documents, as provided by the Electoral Code."
When asked if there was political pressure on the CEC, Neikova answered:
"I am not a member of any political party. No one pressured me in any way, not only for this election, but also back in time to make a decision in one direction or another."