17980 | 15 Jan. 2026 | 08:34

According to the constitutional expert, the problem is not with the constitutionality, but with the challenged professional integrity of Gyurov, linked to the fact that he has actually not fulfilled his duties as deputy governor of the Bulgarian National

 There are no formal legal obstacles for Andrey Gyuov to be appointed as interim Prime Minister, but there are other obstacles connected to his disputed integrity.

 This was stated by constitutionalist Professor Borislav Tzekov on BTV in relation to the information that Gyuov is the favorite of the President to lead the next interim government.

 According to Borislav Tzekov, however, such a decision by President Radev would be "politically highly vulnerable and would provoke a serious political conflict, including over the legitimacy of the interim cabinet."

 According to him, the problem is not in the constitutional permissibility, but in the disputed professional integrity of Gyuov, due to the fact that he has not actually performed his duties as a vice governor of the Bulgarian National Bank.

 Constitutional expert comments on the current procedure for handing out mandates for government formation. He comments that the country is in the final stage of the constitutional procedure, with the third exploratory mandate to be handed out within a 7-day period.

 "If the third group immediately declares that there is no chance of forming a government with the third mandate, then the goal of the procedure is unattainable and any delays will only be procrastination. Holding onto the mandate out of sheer stubbornness is unacceptable," stressed Tsekov.

 He was adamant that the president should not give instructions to the National Assembly on which laws to pass, and that parliament has no right to dictate to the head of state what policies to pursue or what public positions to take.

 Yesterday, President Rumen Radev told journalists that the date of the elections is not as important as the amendments to the Electoral Code and the integrity of the vote. Both GERB and CC-DB are calling for elections on March 29th.

 "I do not see a direct connection between the protests and the date of the elections. As for Mr. Radev's statement, I agree with him in the second part - about the honest elections. As for the first part - whether there should be changes in the Electoral Code, as a constitutional expert, I will categorically say that this is not the President's job and he should not allow himself to give instructions to the National Assembly on what laws to adopt, and vice versa - the National Assembly should not give instructions to the President on what policies and statements to make," commented Prof. Tsekov.

 "As for the date, we are now in the final phase of the constitutional procedure. Within a 7-day period, which expires next Wednesday, a mandate will be handed to one of the following parliamentary groups, after which a reasonable time frame will be given to fulfill or return the investigative mandate if it is not fulfilled. A reasonable time frame does not mean each person can do as they please," explained Prof. Tzekov.

 He also commented on the possibility for the president to attempt to extend the time for appointing an interim government and scheduling an early parliamentary election so that the deputies have enough time to understand if it is possible or not, and in what way the electronic voting:

 "I assume that he will attempt (Rumen Radev - editor's note), but this attempt must have a reasonable constitutional framework, it cannot continue for 1-2 months, for example. The idea that we will once again make radical changes in the Election Code at 12 without 5 is not a legitimate one. Not accidentally, the Venice Commission has repeatedly criticized this extremely bad practice in relation to Bulgaria".

 According to him, with only 100% electronic voting, without subsequent verification, it will be very difficult to prove infringements. And when it came to scanning devices, he clarified:

 "There is still a paper ballot included which requires a re-check. I am against the idea of using these scanning devices now. Perhaps for the next elections, but making such a radical change in just 12 without 5... true, they have them in the United States, but paper ballots are still counted en masse there. They mostly vote on paper and then use machines like printers."