The first legislation that Bulgaria’s ruling centre-right GERB party has proposed within the new 44th National Assembly – the introduction of a majoritarian electoral system – is likely to face opposition from the other four parties in parliament. Following promises it made during the previous legislature and in the campaign ahead of the snap vote on March 26, GERB on Wednesday proposed changes to the electoral code that would transform the current mixed electoral system into a fully majoritarian one, in which MPs are elected in constituencies with an absolute majority in two rounds. The proposal follows a referendum on changes to the political system held on November 6, 2016, which 2.5 million citizens – 11,000 short of the number needed to make the results of the plebiscite mandatory – supported.
“We have to be honest to Bulgaria’s employer, the Bulgarian voters. We from the GERB party reckon on those 2.5 million Bulgarian citizens,” GERB’s vice-president, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, said on Wednesday, quoted by Focus News Agency.
Not all parties in parliament share GERB’s enthusiasm for the proposal, however, including Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s coalition partner, the nationalist United Patriots.
“This will lead to the distortion of the political system and to creation of a one or two-party model, a system more representative of totalitarian societies like that of communist Bulgaria,” Iskren Vesselinov, an MP from the United Patriots told national radio.
Full Article: Bulgaria Parties Give Planned Election Changes Cool Reception :: Balkan Insight.