Bulgaria’s Parliament has decided that on October 25 this year together with local elections a referendum is to be held, but with only one question - whether to introduce remote electronic voting. So lawmakers did not comply with the request of 570,000 Bulgarian citizens who last year signed a proposal from the head of state not only for a remote electronic voting but also for mandatory voting, as well as for a majority element inside of it.

After in 2014 Rosen Plevneliev’s proposal was rejected by the previous government, the failure was repeated on Tuesday. At the beginning of the debate in the plenary hall, the President personally presented his arguments to initiate a referendum. He pointed out that the referendum on electoral rights was as important as the amendments to the Constitution. According to Rossen Plevneliev, politicians owe trust to the people and there is no reason to deny them the decision how to choose their representatives in parliament:

"In recent years we have seen a dangerous process of delegitimation of institutions, of political parties and, unfortunately, of the political system as a whole. Some of the reasons are rooted precisely in the lost faith that every citizen is important, that everyone can change the state with their voice and that democracy provides an opportunity for citizens to participate directly in decision-making. There is no more powerful tool to increase citizens' trust than a referendum!”, the Bulgarian the head of state said.

Early in the debate, MPs proposed different versions of the questions for adding a majority element and compulsory voting, all of which were rejected. The Bulgarian Socialist Party demanded that half the MPs should be elected via majority vote in single-mandate areas as compulsory voting should be subject to a penalty.

"For if voters are sure that there would be no favorable or unfavorable consequences for them, we will not reach any significant results in increasing voter turnout," Yanaki Stoilov said.

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) proposed that all MPs be elected via majority vote.

"The MRF will not be an accomplice by changing the electoral system to offer on a plate a one-party majority to the first political force in Bulgaria, whichever it might be," MRF leader Lutfi Mestan said.

A separate vote on the three questions was proposed by the Patriotic Front, which was supported also by GERB. Thus, in the separate vote thanks to BSP, MRF, the Bulgarian Democratic Center and the Reformist Bloc the issues of majority element and compulsory voting were voted down. With a broad majority a decision was adopted to hold a referendum only on the question of the possibility of remote electronic voting.

In the parliamentary lobbies speculation was under way whether the failure of 2/3 of the referendum is not part of the deal with the MRF in exchange for its support of judicial reform. The movement has solid reason to worry about mandatory voting. And obviously all parties do not particularly like the idea of adding a majority element to the elections. The co-chair of the Patriotic Front, Krassimir Karakachanov, has defined what happened as an agreement between MRF and GERB. "On the re-run of the voting, the votes of GERB dropped by 24, enough not to pass a decision already voted," said Karakachanov.

The same position was upheld also by Philip Popov from the BSP:"Today we have witnessed this historic, corporate association".

It turned out that some parties have not complied with their political arrangements. The chairperson of the Parliamentary Group of GERB Tsvetan Tsvetanov expressed his disappointment at the behavior of its coalition partner - the reformers.

"As far as the majority element is concerned, the reformers and the way the reformers demonstratively voted, was not appropriate given these 570,000 votes. They collected those signatures and were involved in their submission to the NA. I do not know when these people are sincere."

Petar Slavov from the Reformist Bloc explained: "Regarding compulsory voting, the group voted differently. Some of my colleagues voted "in favor", others had concerns that this could be regarded as unconstitutional and therefore probably abstained. "

The Parliament's decision does not account fully for the stated will of the Bulgarian people to determine the rules by which they elect their representatives in parliament. This was indicated by President Rossen Plevneliev in a position released by the press office of the head of state after the vote in parliament. "The Constitution clearly defines the role and responsibilities of everyone so that direct democracy could exist. The final decision of the National Assembly and each of the political forces represented in it carries political responsibility for their actions," President Plevneliev said.

English Rossitsa Petcova