The agreement between the formations participating in the government includes a point on ending the illegitimate influences of parties and their leaders in the judiciary and executive branches.
The declaration of such a desire is "another admission that there is such a problem and it turns out to be the central political problem", believes Miroslava Todorova, a judge at the Sofia City Court and a member of the Union of Judges.
"If it is resolved, perhaps a field will be freed up for real, authentic political work, with competition between party programs and ideology", she said in an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio and called on all political forces "to free themselves from this crutch, which is not a means of achieving public health".
The parallel power, which is uncontrolled and stands outside formal institutions, seeks to preserve its longevity by replacing the public order, emphasized Miroslava Todorova.
In her words, if it is true that this parallel power has managed to exist undisturbed for a long enough time and has created clients in different classes, then she also has "many public speakers who can deceive the public", which, however, "is increasingly difficult to deceive".
"Mr. Sarafov had a unique chance to tell publicly what is going on in these places about unclear confusions between criminal, judicial and political. There is no way for someone who has never rubbed shoulders with these schemes to tell. In some of the countries that have managed to overcome the problem of the mafia entering state institutions, this started because of the honest position of some of those involved, that is, stories from the inside", commented Todorova.
She expressed the opinion that Borislav Sarafov should have also told why both he and Ivan Geshev initially did not want to become prosecutors general, and then it seemed as if they had no choice". According to her, it should also be clear why the prosecutor's office behaved in one way at the beginning of the constitutional debates, and then - "when the balance of political forces was already different, it turned out that we were mistaken in our impression".
Miroslava Todorova suggested that this is "another of a long-standing process of intimidation and political abuse - all forms of seduction and intimidation".
"Everything seems to be on the verge of devaluation. If it continues in this direction, popular discontent could sweep away all institutions. No matter what their attitude, participation and weight in achieving this unenviable situation is," warned Miroslava Todorova.
We must deal with the protection of institutions from the creeping mafia-like process," she emphasized and shared that she views "the entire work of democratizing the state as a long-term marathon – this modernization of the state cannot be easy, especially with our heavy historical burden".
"The very fact that the political authorities are forced to react is good news. It has not been left undisturbed. Scandals, public intolerance and sensitivity are already an important factor that the authorities take into account," the judge from the Sofia City Court also pointed out.
For her, the essential question remains "how was it possible for Mr. Geshev, Mr. Sarafov, and before that Mr. Tsatsarov and Mr. Filchev".
In the program "Politically Incorrect" Todorova asked "what is happening with the investigation into the so-called. assassination attempt against Mr. Geshev, with the case of the investigation into the murder of Mr. Bozanov, called the Notary, who is alleged to be another influence broker".
She cited a reference to cases in which Bozanov had an interest or his associates were involved, explaining that "all were lost by him or his associates, which means that he had no real influence in the court".
"Unbearable for justice details in the cases of the "Eight Dwarfs" became clear, Miroslava Todorova also reminded and stated:
"After shedding light on the problems for so long, we have no answers. This is a state threatened by the most brutal mafia type. There are suspicions of maintaining institutionalized corruption. And this question is the main one for society. The judiciary is the foundation of whether our society will function authentically or whether corruption will become a natural environment in all spheres of public life."
Even without the law that halted the Sarafov procedure having been adopted, it should have been clear that a constitutional body with an expired constitutional mandate should not elect other constitutional bodies, Judge Todorova expressed a categorical opinion.
"The interpretation that allows the SJC, completely unbound by any limitation of power, to elect bodies that are also specified in the Constitution can hardly be considered constitutionally unproblematic."
"There is no cause for concern from the fact that there is no pending procedure for the SAC chairman. It is not accepted that this is a situation incompatible with the Constitution, nor that it is illegal," she added.
"The impression was created that this law was to hinder a certain person's career. If this mentality were not dominant, such a law would not have been passed. But if this law had not been adopted, the SJC would probably have proceeded to an election," said Judge Todorova.
According to her, talking about the "so-called big three" creates an incorrect attitude within the judicial system itself.
"It suggests that prosecutors and judges have superiors, that the SJC represents something like a government in the judiciary and that some "big three" are determined, on whom the justice in the cases will depend, and this is not laid down in either the constitutional model or the procedural laws. In the prosecution service, this seems to be the case, and this has become one of the reasons for talking about the hypertrophied power of the Prosecutor General, which affects all public spheres. This issue is directly related to the abuse of political power by the prosecutor's office. Now, once again, we see the influence of the prosecutor's office as a central tool of political engineering, Miroslava Todorova also believes. Of the current members of the government, four have been acquitted by the court, and the criminal proceedings against two have been terminated, meaning that six members of the cabinet have become convinced of how important independent justice is, she pointed out. According to her, if up to this point these people have not been spokesmen for change or have not taken actions that would propose reforms, several interpretation options arise, one of which is for the independent court, whose "predictability within the framework of legal rules still makes it a certain achievement and there is no point in working in this direction". However, Todorova called the other interpretation "perhaps sad, even tragic" and likened it to the "symptom of sensei or telephone scams" – when it is believed that the acquittal or termination of criminal proceedings is due to a change in the economic situation or to influence the court.
"Each of them must give a sign that they have taken stock and will work for judicial reform."