Law changes to facilitate the appointment of a caretaker prime minister adopted by Parliament at first reading

A surprise legal affairs committee in Parliament and a last-minute item tabled in the chamber would give the heads of the BNB, the Audit Office and the Ombudsman the right to hold office as caretaker prime minister.

An item to amend the BNB law was tabled on March 29 in the legal committee by GERB-UDF and MRF- Yordan Tsonev, Anna Alexandrova, Temenuzhka Petkova and Hamid Hamid. Immediately afterwards, it entered the Chamber, where the MPs adopted the amendments at first reading with 137 votes in favour.

According to the changes, the Governor and Deputy Governors of the BNB and the Head of the Audit Office can take unpaid annual leave if elected caretaker prime minister. After their release, they will be able to continue to serve in their previous posts for the rest of the term for which they were elected.

Outside the possible duties of a caretaker Prime Minister, the central bank's Governor and Deputy Governors will not be allowed to engage in any remunerated activity other than teaching or membership of the bodies of companies in which the BNB has an interest.

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The changes are necessitated because of the mess of constitutional changes, in which it turned out that special laws on the BNB, the National Audit Office and the Ombudsman prevented the holders of these posts and their deputies from holding other positions.

The MPs rushed to pass the amendments after potential appointees for caretaker prime minister spoke about such incompatibility during the meetings with President Rumen Radev.