Shortening the period from 7 to 3 days between the two readings for changes to the Judiciary Act is the right decision, after efforts were made to have the three bills adopted on first reading in one day in the Legal Committee, and the next - in a plenary session. So far, everything is great, but overall it is quite late.
This is what attorney told "Focus". Emil Georgiev from the "Justice for Everyone" Initiative.
"These are things that should have happened about a month ago in order to have a normal schedule in which to proceed with the proposals between the first and second readings", he added and drew attention: "Especially at the meeting of the Committee on Legal Affairs, most of the political forces that supported the bills expressed their willingness and readiness to submit amendments to a number of texts between the first and second readings. I assume that the most amendments that will be submitted will relate to the bill of "Continuing Change-Democratic Bulgaria". So, on the one hand, the development is positive, but on the other - Unfortunately, even with the shortened term, according to the regulations it cannot be shorter than 3 days, it will not be possible to finish everything by January 16, when the session of the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council is held, at which Borislav Sarafov will most likely be elected Prosecutor General.
Adv. Georgiev also recalled how much time was wasted in the National Assembly, for example with the election of a chairman: "These were several key and valuable weeks, their waste was not at all accidental. The main goal was to delay the reaction against the election of Borislav Sarafov as Prosecutor General, since the most serious possibility of obstructing this election is legislative – by amending the Law on the Judiciary. This is currently being worked on. On the other hand, there is also this reading that perhaps some consensus has now been reached, it probably took a long time to reach this agreement between the individual groups in the National Assembly. And although the time that remains is completely insufficient, it will rely on the joker "Help from a friend" – the main expectations are directed at President Rumen Radev that he will not issue a decree confirming the decree of the Supreme Judicial Council. The head of state is not bound by a deadline for issuing his decree, he can hold it indefinitely and delay the election, as he has the right to return it once. He gave a statement that he will either delay or return the decree. It seems to me that this is what the people's representatives are counting on".
According to attorney Emil Georgiev, it is possible that Borislav Sarafov himself will refuse to be both the acting and the holder of the post of prosecutor number one, but the question is, however, how likely this will happen: "At the moment, Sarafov himself does not give official indications of anything like that. Also – It is possible, but rather unlikely, at least at this stage, that he will not receive even the simple majority of 13 votes in the January 16 session of the Supreme Judicial Council to be elected.
According to him, the move to elect Vanya Stefanova as Deputy Prosecutor General after a request by Borislav Sarafov looks like an attempt to regroup the prosecution, since she is a potential acting prosecutor number 1.
Adv. Georgiev also sees a connection between the election of Sarafov and the creation of a regular government.
"If there is to be a government, respectively, and the next parliament, then its creation will have to be negotiated, it will have to be linked to the election of a prosecutor general. It is along these lines that I expect the order of some political solitaire, part of which is the adoption of the amendments to the Law on the Judiciary, which are necessary to terminate the election procedure. "This, as I said, will probably involve the detention or refusal to issue a decree by President Rumen Radev. Some surprising moves in the Supreme Judicial Council are not ruled out, so that in the end we have a regular government and Borislav Sarafov is not elected as the Prosecutor General," he further commented.