What changes did the Legal Committee adopt in parliament. Will Borislav Sarafov become prosecutor general, or will they stop him… Maya Manolova, leader of the civic platform "Stand Up BG", speaks to FACTI.
- Ms. Manolova, you were a guest at the meeting of the legal committee in parliament. What was decided?
- Our bill amending the Electoral Code was adopted. We propose that the post-election count be held in counting centers. So that the hands of party functionaries who are members of the section committees can be tied. We saw how they count, how they transfer votes from one party to another, how they make ballots invalid. This is how the vote is tainted and we see the catastrophic collapse of citizens' trust in the electoral process. Therefore, we propose that instead of 13,000 polling stations, the votes be counted in 200 counting commissions - each in an area with a population of up to 30,000 people. This way, the counting will be monitored by the media, citizens, election experts, and representatives of political parties. Our proposals for clearing the electoral rolls of "dead souls" were also accepted, and we propose active registration based on those who participated in the last elections. The Legal Committee also adopted the bills to suspend the election of the Prosecutor General.
- Now this must pass through the plenary hall to become a fact?
- Voting on first reading, debates and proposals, and then voting on second reading.
- Was there unity among the deputies to suspend the procedure for selecting a new Prosecutor General. Will this pass in the hall…
- There was complete unanimity among all members of parliament in the committee. Deputies from all parliamentary groups supported the projects of the PPDB and ITN, and the project of “Vazrazhdane“ was supported by all, but without DPS-New Beginning.
- Is the abolition of the paper ballot being discussed as proposed by “Vazrazhdane“?
- There are proposals in the bills to switch entirely to machine voting and machine counting. I support these proposals, because this will exclude the interference of party functionaries in the counting. And in our bill we propose experimentally to have scanning machines in the next elections. But I doubt that there will be a majority in the hall on the second reading.
- As a greeting for after the New Year, prices for electricity, gas, water, mobile operators are going up. Why is this allowed…
- Because the deputies had 18 days of New Year's vacation. From “Stand Up BG“ On December 18, we introduced a proposal for a moratorium on electricity and water prices through the deputies from the BSP-United Left, but it was not submitted and considered. The increase in the price of electricity in the middle of winter is unprecedented. In our opinion, the motive is only one - additional revenue for the EDPs from the pockets of Bulgarian citizens. With poor water quality, service, and huge leaks, which on average for the country are over 60%, to ask for an increase in the price of water - this is cynical. There is still time. From “Stand Up BG“ we have provided the moratorium to the BSP-United Left to submit and vote in the hall. This way, citizens can be protected from inflated utility bills. The intention to increase bills with mobile operators is also unprecedented. Two of them have announced an increase, most likely soon the third will announce an increase. They unilaterally increase the prices of mobile services and do it without justification. It used to be inflation…
- But according to the NSI, inflation is 1.9%...
- They use a loophole in the law. In fact, the Law on Obligations and Contracts does not allow one party to arbitrarily change the terms of the contract in existing contracts between the parties and without the consent of the other. From “Stand Up BG“ we have submitted a bill through the BSP-United Left back in early December, which would prohibit unilateral price increases under existing contracts between telecoms and consumers. It is obvious that the control authorities are helpless against telecoms and are inactive. I am referring to the Commission for the Protection of Competition, the Commission for the Protection of Consumers has its own mechanisms for influence, as well as the Commission for the Regulation of Communications. I urge the MPs to introduce our bill and tie the hands of the telecoms to stop this unilateral price increase.
- What arguments are the mobile operators coming up with now, since inflation is low…
- No explanations. One operator says it will improve the service, but without the citizens having asked for it. This is just a bare promise, because some of the contracts are for maximum service options. The other operator does it without any arguments at all. Both operators say: “If you want, cancel. Then we will collect only the discounts we made to you under the contract.“ People should cancel, but where should they go!? I can bet that within days the third operator will also announce a unilateral price increase.
That is why the solution is - court. It is difficult for each subscriber to defend himself in court. With the previous increases by “Stand Up Bg“ we have filed collective lawsuits, but the procedure will be delayed for at least another year. Or we need a change in the law, such as we filed through the BSP-United Left. I call on the control institutions and the deputies to take action to protect the people!