The participants in the Consultative Council for National Security at the President’s Office discussed the current political situation in the country and the measures the political parties represented in the National Assembly should take to meet public expectations. At the beginning of the meeting and with regard to disobeying the rules governing the Consultative Council for National Security, the Head of State was not given the opportunity to make his traditional opening speech. “Today I was directly and indirectly accused of exceeding my powers. I would like to state firmly that I know very well what my constitutional rights and obligations are. One of my basic powers and obligations is to safeguard the constitutional values and rights of the people. I cannot say anything when I see that they are under threat,” Rosen Plevneliev said after the meeting was over.
The President emphasized that he would continue the fight to secure stability and continue to defend justice and side with the people. “The political parties should find the appropriate tone and approach to show the people that they are responsible. I will like to say it clear – currently we do not need exercises to test who has a better command of political and parliamentary tricks. I refuse to participate in such a scenario,” the Head of State was adamant.
The President summarized the results of the debates of the Consultative Council. The participants agreed that the Bulgarian citizens’ fair and lawful demands should be heard and the protests that are underway for a week should be peaceful and should not call for resorting to any forms of outrage and extremism. We are all concerned about putting maximum efforts into securing stability and the ethnic and religious model of tolerance in our country, Rosen Plevneliev added.
Furthermore a common position was expressed that it is necessary to work on an Election Code that will provide for a broader representation and will resolve the problems that are among the reasons to hold protests.
As for the amendments in the law on the State Agency for National Security that facilitated Delyan Peevski’s appointment as chief of the agency, the president commented that “the chronology of events showed to the entire nation that this was a well-planned action, considering that the provisions regulating the criteria and the required age of a candidate were amended.” The Head of State warned that we should not take hasty action and should avoid a similar approach to legal amendments and to the appointments of the chief of the State Agency for National Security and other top state officials. The President further called for holding a public and elaborate debate in the specialized commissions in parliament and for hearing the candidates and their ideas. They should take on the commitment to implement short- and long-term measures. All questions should be asked and they should be answered before the candidate is appointed and also the opinion of the professional community should be heard, as well as that of the Euro-Atlantic partners, Rosen Plevneliev added.
According to the Head of State, the current crisis can be resolved only if civil control is enhanced and communication and coordination with the people is improved, and “if the politicians show a greater decency and accountability and take a principled approach of assuming responsibility to the nation, not to lobbyist groups.” “The arrogant spirit of revenge is not a prescription of how to overcome the situation that Bulgarian politics has been forced into. The war of discrediting materials and trading accusations is a well-tested method. When we shamelessly tell the Bulgarian citizens that we can offer them everything and we can get away with any situation in the well-known cloak-and-dagger style, we thus not simply underestimate them but we also blatantly insult them,” President Rosen Plevneliev further commented.
“This is not the first attack against me, nor will it be the last one. Nonetheless, I will continue to defend my positions and principles from the first to the last day as I have promised to do to the Bulgarian citizens,” the President was adamant, commenting on the attempts at discrediting him in the past days. “My bank accounts and income are public. I have no bank account and money in any offshore zone, including Cyprus,” the Head of State pointed out.
The political parties participating in the Consultative Council for National Security proposed that the reforms in the security sector, as well as the approach adopted while making appointments in the sector, should be the topic of debate during the next meeting of the Consultative Council for National Security, which will be held in a broader composition. Until then no legal amendments should be made in the sector in a piecemeal fashion and a consensus on that was reached in 2012, the Head of State recalled.