Parliament votes in second reading to allow Bulgarians with dual citizenship to become MPs and ministers

published on 12/19/23 3:14 PM

Photo: БТА

MPs adopted amendments to the Constitution in the second of three readings. One of them limits the President's powers in choosing the composition of the caretaker government. The president will now have to appoint a prime minister from a list of people, and after criticism the head of the Supreme Court of Cassation was excluded from the list. The caretaker prime minister will therefore be chosen from among the speaker of the National Assembly, the governor or deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, the president or deputy president of the National Audit Office and the ombudsman or his deputy. If all of the above refuse to take office, the caretaker cabinet will be elected by the National Assembly.

Who can serve as caretaker prime minister, says Parliament's Constitutional Affairs Committee

The majority in the National Assembly also approved other important changes to the country's Basic Law, allowing Bulgarian citizens who also hold another citizenship to be elected as ministers and MPs. A requirement of having lived in the country for 18 months will apply to MPs, but not to ministers.

"Of all the EU countries, Bulgaria is the only one that does not give Bulgarian citizens this right. The time has come," argued Antoaneta Tsoneva of Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB). "They have drilled a huge hole in the national security system," said Atanas Zafirov of the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). The opposition said that it would file a complaint against the constitutional changes.

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Parliament votes in second reading to allow Bulgarians with dual citizenship to become MPs and ministers

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