Nothing extraordinary was produced in Parliament last week. After a series of failed meetings the group of Ataka party finally returned from Brussels to ensure the quorum so much needed for the work of the National Assembly. Through not being in Parliament, however, it took the main trump card from the hands of the opposition and saves Cabinet in the first official attempt of the opposition to overthrow it. Quite expectedly, the non-confidence motion of initiated due to inefficiency of the new Ministry of the Investment Planning was rejected by a majority of 111 votes against, coming all from the ruling socialist BSP and ethnic Turk MRF. The present 20 MPs from Ataka provided the required quorum, but abstained, while 12 MPs from GERB were even not present at the vote that they submitted more than ten days ago.
Unlike the situation from the previous week, when the electronic system of the National Assembly only reported a hundred MPs, only because the opposition did not register for any session, the information board in the plenary hall on Wednesday (October 2nd) verified the presence of 163 MPs. The absence of the majority of GERB did not stay hidden, but was quickly reduced, while lawmakers were passing their agenda. In the final vote there were 217 MPs voting from all parliamentary groups, setting a record in attendance of the Chamber. However, the comments again swirled around issues of who was there and who was not.
You blame me for the support of the government, but why on the very voting day of the motion, initiated by you, it turns out that you can not get your men, gentlemen of GERB? There are 12 of your members mission, including the leader, asked the leader of Ataka Volen Siderov. Immediately after that the ministers of the cabinet and PM Oresharsky entered the plenary session without giving much notice to the shouts Resignation! from the opposition.
An interesting statement was to be heard from the leader of MRF Mestan who said: This vote of non-confidence is not a fall of parliamentarism, but of the parliamentary opposition.
When the socialists from BSP become the first political party in the country, I will be a constructive opposition, said Mr. Borissov refusing to accept criticism. For a consecutive time he declared his party was the sole and undisputed winner of the election and advised the ruling BSP and the MRF not to speak on behalf of people who did not vote for them. Once you win elections and then be savvy, were the words with which Boyko Borissov left the Parliament only to prepare for the next vote of no confidence.
The BANKER
