50th National Assembly of Bulgaria

National Assembly Speaker and Deputy-Speakers The opening session of the 50th National Assembly, as per tradition, was chaired by the oldest MP, Silvi Kirolov from ITN. During the first day of the opening session, as had occurred in previous parliaments, none of the candidates for speaker managed to gain a majority of 121 votes, with the GERB nominated Raya Nazaryan coming closest with 114 votes. The other candidates for the position included Petar Petrov from Revival, Silvi Kirilov from ITN and Viktoria Vasilieva from Velichie, although none managed to gather support from outside their parliamentary group. In her speech following her selection, Nazaryan appraised the work of the National Assembly and promised political impartiality. On 5 July 2024, Viktoria Vassileva, who had previously been the vice-speaker from Velichie, was automatically removed as vice-speaker due to the dissolution of the Velichie parliamentary group. Permanent committees of the National Assembly The chairperson of each of the permanent committees of the 50th National Assembly are listed below, with all being elected on 17 July, three weeks after the first session. Temporary parliamentary committees Three temporary parliamentary committees were formed during the tenure of the 50th National Assembly. Rulebook temporary committee Traditionally, following the election of a speaker, a temporary committee is formed in order to review the parliament's rules. Anna Aleksandrova, from GERB, was elected with 129 votes, including the majority of GERB, DPS and Velichie MPs, as well as some MPs from PP-DB. However, both ideas were ultimately rejected both in committee and by the plenary session. The motion to form the committee was presented by three former members of the Velichie Parliamentary Group. On the 24th of July, Caretaker Minister of the Interior, Kalin Stoyanov, was heard by the commission, revealing that the Ministry of Interior had begun investigating Mihaylov for financial crimes as early as 2019, however none of the cases had been prosecuted. On 8 August, the report of the commission was officially presented before parliament, with it concluding that there was reasonable evidence of Mihaylov's participation in financial crimes such as money laundering and building a pyramid scheme. A classified part of the report was directed to the General Prosecutors Office. Dospat investigative committee On 1 August, a commission was formed to investigate whether the mayor of Dospat, Elin Radev, had abused his power and engaged in corrupt practices, with its tenure limited until the 1st of September. The commission's chairman was selected as Aleksandr Vulchev, from ITN. In early September, a report on the activity of the commission was officially prepared, however it was not adopted within the commission due to a boycott of the commission's activity by GERB. Despite this, a decision was taken by the National Assembly to send relevant information from the project-report to various law enforcement agencies. Bozhanov-Evroto investigative committee In addition to the above listed committees, the parliament voted to extend the work of the temporary committee from the 49th National Assembly investigating the assassination of suspected Bulgarian mafia member, Martin "The Notary" Bozhanov and the potential role of another suspected member of the Bulgarian mafia, Pepi Evroto, in it. The formation of the committee was supported by 117 votes, with 107 votes against coming from GERB and DPS. One of the most notable events in the committees activity was the unexpected appearance of DPS co-chairman, Delyan Peevski, to a hearing before the committee, which Peevski used in order to insinuate illegal activity from PP-DB. Members of the committee from PP-DB, in turn have accused GERB and DPS of obstructing the work of the committee. Ultimately, the committee did not produce a report on its activity by the end of the 50th National Assembly. == Parliamentary groups ==

7 Parliamentary Groups were registered at the opening session of the 50th National Assembly. GERB-SDS The parliamentary group's leadership was as follows: Group developments The partisan breakdown of the seats within the parliamentary group is as follows. The parliamentary group had no changes in its composition or leadership between the convocation and disbanding of the 50th National Assembly. DPS The parliamentary group's leadership was as follows: Parliamentary group developments On 25 June, long-time DPS MP, Filiz Hyusmenova, resigned as an MP citing poor electoral results in her constituency of Varna She was replaced by MP-candidate Hyusni Hasan Adem. On 27 June, first-time MP, Aysel Rufad, was expelled from the DPS Parliamentary Group, with no official reason being provided. On 3 July, long-time MP from Plovdiv-Province, Ramadan Atalay, was unanimously expelled from the DPS Parliamentary Group, after the province-leadership of the party removed their confidence from the MP due to a decrease in votes. Shortly thereafter, MP from Targovishte Province, Dzheyhan Ibryamov, was similarly expelled from the group due to a withdrawal of confidence by the province leadership. On 11 July, 17 MPs in the group, including co-chairman Dzhevdet Chakarov, were expelled, in what was widely considered a by-product of the conflict between Parliamentary Group Chairman, Delyan Peevski, and DPS Honorary Chairman, Ahmed Dogan. Two MPs, Ahmed Vranchev and Dimitar Nikolov, left the DPS Parliamentary Group in solidarity with the expelled. Hyusni Adem, another DPS MP, left the group on the 17th of July. By the end of the 50th National Assembly, the official DPS Parliamentary Group had only 22 members, with the majority of the original group sitting as independents. PP-DB The parliamentary group's leadership is as follows: After being sworn in, Ivanov resigned on 21 June. He was replaced by Stoyan Mihalev, a member of DSB, who was sworn in on 26 June. Revival The parliamentary group's leadership was as follows: This decision was contested by the BSP National Council, which voted to appoint Borislav Gutsanov head of the parliamentary group on 15 June. Gutsanov's election was confirmed on 20 June following a vote by the Parliamentary Group. On the first day of the newly convened parliament, the BSP for Bulgaria parliamentary group expelled Kaloyan Metodiev, who the National Council had requested resign his seat, due to him receiving the seat in violation of a previous National Council decision. Thus Kaloyan Metodiev was the first independent MP in the new National Assembly. On 4 September, long-time BPS MP, Mikhail Stavrev, resigned from the parliamentary group following the decision to expel Korneliya Ninova and other pro-Ninova politicians. Despite the expulsion of Ninonva, Svilenski and Chenchev from the Bulgarian Socialist Party, they continued to sit with the BSP for Bulgaria Parliamentary Group until the disbandment of the 50th National Assembly. ITN The parliamentary group's leadership was as follows: On 5 July, 6 MPs from the Velichie Parliamentary Group officially announced their intention to leave it, thus dissolving the group.{{Cite web |title= Краят на една новоизгряла партия: "Величие" в парламента се разпадна == Legislative activity and other notable developments ==

Zhelyazkov cabinet investiture vote On 1 July, as part of the government-formation procedure, Zhelyazkov, as the PM-Candidate from GERB officially received the first mandate and submitted his project-cabinet. Zhelyazkov's speech was followed by a statement by former Prime Minister and PP-DB parliamentary group chairman, Nikolai Denkov, who chastised Zhelyazkov for not consulting other political forces in the negotiation process and for nominating candidate-Ministers who lacked the necessary acumen to lead Bulgaria forward. On 12 July, during debates about the parliament's rulebook in the National Assembly, BSP MP, Aleksandr Svilenski, proposed the removal of a clause prohibiting the formation of new parliamentary groupings by unaffiliated MPs or the entrance of an MP into a new parliamentary group (commonly known as "political nomadism"). The proposed changes were however, ultimately rejected due to opposition from most of the other parliamentary parties. Economic legislation During its tenure, specifically prior to the summer vacation, the parliament passed a number of important economic legislation. Social Security reform bill On 11 July, the GERB-SDS parliamentary group proposed a bill that was meant to alter certain aspects of the current unemployment benefit scheme and extend paternity leave. The latter part of the bill, concerning the extension of paternity leave even without the mother's approval, was passed unanimously on 25 July. The second part of the legislative package, which aimed to end the practice by which unemployed persons, who had been employed even on a temporary basis in another EU country, qualified for the highest possible unemployment benefit, proved more contentious, being opposed by DPS. Independent MPs affiliated with Ahmed Dogan called on President Radev to veto the bill. Introduction of the Euro bill On 7 August, the parliament adopted the "Law for the Adoption of the Euro" which had been developed jointly by the European Central Bank and Bulgarian National Bank. The law regulated the way in which the Euro was to be introduced in Bulgaria, and made provisions for potential malpractices by shopkeepers. Amendments to the state budget Two amendments to the state budget were proposed by the Ministry of Finance to the National Assembly, both of which were related to greater municipal spending requirements. On 24 July, the parliament voted to authorise the extension of funding to 271 new municipal projects, thus increasing the spending in the budget by 308 million Leva. The amendment was supported unanimously. In late September, the parliament also once again voted to increase the budget for municipal projects, after approving the commencement of 349 new municipal projects. Anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law On 7 August, the parliament passed a new law banning the propagation of "non-traditional sexual orientations" in school. The bill, originally written and proposed by Revival, gained the support of GERB-SDS, DPS, BSP and ITN. Energy law amendments In the final day of the National Assembly prior to its suspension for the election campaign period, the parliament was set to debate a number of amendments to the Energy Law mandated by the EU Plan for Recovery and Resilience, including plans to liberalise the Bulgarian energy market by 2026 and the approval of a road-map for the closing of coal power-plants in Stara Zagora province. The debate on the amendments was opposed by Revival, BSP and ITN, who believed that it was intentionally rushed by the GERB-PPDB-DPS majority in order to reduce its societal resonance. The political parties supporting the amendments cited the urgency of passing them for Bulgaria to receive funding from the EU. The three parties opposed to the amendment initially attempted to disrupt the plenary session discussing them by lowering the quorum, however this did not end up working due to the eventual formation of a quorum at 9 PM. Consequently, representatives from the Revival and ITN groups occupied the tribune of the National Assembly, citing perceived rules violations in the conduct of the session. They further attempted to disrupt the National Assemblies audio systems after attempts by GERB MPs to speak from their place. At 10 PM, the session was temporarily suspended by Vice-Speaker Rositsa Kirova, with most MPs belonging to the GERB-SDS, PP-DB and DPS Parliamentary Groups leaving the room. Members from ITN and Revival continued to occupy the tribune, claiming that MPs from the supporting parties planned to return and vote on the amendments when the room had been vacated. At 23:00, the quorum was verified by Kirova, who, following the registration of only 9 MPs, officially dissolved the session. Shortly thereafter, the light system in the National Assembly was turned off. Revival and ITN MPs remained in the room until 00:00, with the official suspension of parliament for the election campaign period. The behaviour of the MPs was widely condemned by PP-DB and GERB, who accused them of preventing Bulgaria's fulfilment of important energy laws and of demonstrating anti-European practices. ITN and Revival representatives, for their part, claimed to have saved thousands of jobs in the Maritsa basin. == References ==