Nine attempts, nine fails: Parliament does not have a speaker a month after it convened
On Wednesday, MPs once again failed to elect the National Assembly speaker and break the deadlock that prevents the legislature from starting work properly, including on the state budget for 2025. In the second round, BSP's candidate Natalia Kiselova received the support of 88 deputies from the socialists and GERB and BSP, but 61 MPs from MRF-New Beginning (Peevski), TISP and Metch voted against, while 89 from WCC-DB and Vazrazhdane abstained.
The other candidate - the oldest MP and acting speaker Silvi Kirilov from TISP gained the support of 100 MPs from WCC (but not Democratic Bulgaria), TISP, Metch and the ARF (MRF-Dogan). Twenty MPs from Democratic Bulgaria and the WCC-affiliated Yavor Bozhankov and Daniel Lorer abstained or opposed Kirilov's nomination. Their votes would have been enough for Kirilov to be elected. The next attempt to select a speaker will take place on Thursday, 5 December.
State Prosecution allows pro-Putin and Stalin fan investigate arms dealer poisoning
For the tenth year, the Bulgarian Prosecution has been investigating the poisoning of arms dealer Emilian Gebrev by three alleged Russian military intelligence agents, who have been charged in absentia. They have been missing for five years now, and there has been no progress in the case.
Against this backdrop, an investigation by Svobodna Evropa (RFE/RL - Bulgaria) discovered that the prosecutor overseeing the case is a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. He was also part of an official delegation of his institution to Moscow a few years ago.
All of this raises doubts about whether he is capable of conducting an objective investigation in which there is evidence of criminal actions by the Russian Federation, the report concludes. However, an internal probe of the prosecution found nothing wrong with that, concluding that freedom of expression guarantees the right of the accuser to both sympathise with the Kremlin and conduct an investigation against it, Svobodna Evropa writes.
Trust in the current political model is running out, President tells students
Trust in the current political model is eroding, President Rumen Radev told students during a lecture at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) in Sofia, dedicated to the prospects and challenges facing young people. "I am doing everything I can within my powers as President. This issue saddens and worries me. People's hope and expectations in me means that the trust in the institutions that are actually supposed to do this job is exhausted," Radev said.
The President, who has sent mixed messages - often in support of Moscow's position on the war in Ukraine - said that the Kremlin made a "strategic mistake" by underestimating the willingness of the Ukrainian nation to fight for its sovereignty, but also repeated his argument that the only solution to the conflict would be a diplomatic one.
Nine attempts, nine fails: Parliament does not have a speaker a month after it convened
On Wednesday, MPs once again failed to elect the National Assembly speaker and break the deadlock that prevents the legislature from starting work properly, including on the state budget for 2025. In the second round, BSP's candidate Natalia Kiselova received the support of 88 deputies from the socialists and GERB and BSP, but 61 MPs from MRF-New Beginning (Peevski), TISP and Metch voted against, while 89 from WCC-DB and Vazrazhdane abstained.
