GERB Parliamentary leader Tsvetanov resigns from Parliament

Tsvetan Tsvetanov, the parliamentary leader of Bulgarian Prime Minister Borissov’s GERB party, said that he was resigning from Parliament He told a briefing in Parliament on 27^th of March. Tsvetanov said he would keep his position as GERB Deputy Chairpesron and head of the party's election campaign headquarters.

The move comes following recent disclosures about his acquisition of an below-market price apartment in Iztok neighbourhood in Sofia.

Tsvetanov told the media briefing that everything he had done in his life was guided by the law and the public interest.

He said that he was staying on in his party posts “so that we can consolidate all the structures of GERB, to show that we are stronger than ever”.

“I have made a decision that will make it possible to calm down any speculation that Tsvetanov wants to take GERB, to split GERB’, he added.

“I think that the most just, most correct and most wise thing is to get out of the Bulgarian Parliament and continue to do what I have done in recent 12 years,” Tsvetanov said.

Tsvetanov’s resignation is the latest in succession by politicians from the ruling majority who allegedly benefited from below-market prices for acquiring apartments in the upmarket Iztok residential area in Sofia.

On 23^rd of March, Tsetska Tsacheva resigned as Minister of Justice and Vanya Koleva as Deputy Sports Minister. Deputy Energy Minister Krassimir Purvanov resigned on 26^th of March. PM Borissov accepted all three resignations.

On 22^nd of March, Bulgaria’s Prosecutor’s Office said that the anti-corruption commission started an investigation into the apartment purchases by Tsvetanov, Tsacheva, Koleva, and Vezhdi Rashidov, the head of Parliament’s committee on culture and media. It will also look into the market prices, the origin of the funds, potential trading in influence and conflict of interest in legislative acts along with the activity of the company, including sales and prices, potential links to political parties.