site.btaChanging Form of Government Should Be Discussed in Calmer Times, Vice President Says

Changing the form of government is a very important topic that needs to be discussed in calmer times, and calls for a real debate where all arguments "for" and "against" are heard, Vice President Iliana Iotova said on Bulgarian National Radio Monday. 

Her comment was prompted by the news of the start of a petition for a national referendum for holding elections for a Grand National Assembly to resolve on changing the form of government from a parliamentary to a presidential republic.

Iotova said there was now a risk to the referendum itself as early parliamentary and local elections are to be held in 2023. "Passions are running very high and I believe it is a bad idea [to hold a referendum together with elections] and the past shows that when referendums are combined with elections, the motives of the political formations are quite different from what people wish and expect," Iotova said. 

She also said: "As far as the change of the form of government is concerned, you are facing a convinced believer in the parliamentary system."  In her words, democracy is built through party representation. "The National Assembly is where the ideas slash, where ideas and proposals for reforms to develop society and bring good solutions for the people, happen," she added. 

Asked about the talk of reforming Schengen, the Vice President explained that this is an old idea that pre-dated COVID and came about when Europe suffered a huge wave of migrants.

"Things started in 2013, 2014, after the conflict in Syria and in fact they have not been resolved to this day," Yotova pointed out. She also said: "What does it say of the European institutions, when work on these documents - the so-called Migration Pact - started in 2014. Then it was abandoned. In 2020, a decision was made for a new migration pact, including a lot of bills that were supposed to regulate the migration issue. To this day, apart from the increased powers of the European agency in charge of for migration and the one for the protection of the external border - land and sea, nothing else has been finalized."   

One of the solutions for Schengen reform is the strengthening of external borders, for which the EU has made additional commitments and is still indebted to countries like Bulgaria, she said. 

Asked to comment a recent attack on the secretary of a Bulgarian culture club in Ohrid, the Republic of North Macedonia, she said that was not an isolated case. 

"The border of freedom of speech is crossed when the speech is clearly directed against the Bulgarian people, against Bulgaria as a country, against certain Bulgarian public figures, scientists, politicians," Iotova said. She added: "Freedom of speech should not prevent the official authorities in the Republic of North Macedonia from taking a stance against hate speech and those who spread it. They have not done too little in this department."

She blames ubiquitous hate speech in the Republic of North Macedonia for anti-Bulgarian acts, including the recent beating of the Bulgarian club's secretary.