The Head of State Rumen Radev has appealed to the Constitutional Court for a number of changes to the Constitution adopted by the National Assembly
The President believes that some of the amendments, besides containing contradictions with other constitutional provisions, change the balance between the main bodies and the mutual control between them, directly affecting the form of state government and falling under the exclusive competence of the Grand National Assembly.
The Head of State Rumen Radev is suing the Constitutional Court today for the declaration of unconstitutionality of the provisions of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria (Official Gazette, No. 106 of 22.12.2023).
Rumen Radev considers as unconstitutional the provisions giving people with dual citizenship the right to be people's representatives and ministers, the possibility to determine by law qualified majorities for the election of the heads of state bodies, the procedure for appointing a caretaker government, as well as the provisions governing the term of the powers of the various legislatures of the National Assembly. With regard to the changes in Chapter Six "Judiciary", the new procedure for appointing the presidents of the supreme courts and the attorney general, which allows this to be done even without the issuance of a presidential decree, is contested. According to the head of state, all these amendments, besides containing contradictions with other constitutional provisions, change the balance between the main bodies and the mutual control between them, directly affecting the form of state government and therefore fall under the exclusive competence of the Grand National Assembly.
The President also disputes the procedure followed by the legislator. "The constitution can be changed either with a large political majority and quickly (with no time limit between the three different voting days) or with a smaller political majority but more slowly (with a minimum period of two months between the different voting days)", the head of state emphasizes in his reasons, opposing the hasty adoption of the constitutional amendments with the minimum required majority and without substantive discussion.
"Following the procedure for amending the Basic Law and the principles on which the structure, organization and functioning of the democratic state is built is the only way in which the decisive role of law can be respected. Failure to comply with them means that the body empowered to create the law denies its decisive role", recalls Rumen Radev in the conclusion to his request for the declaration of unconstitutionality of § 2, § 3, § 5 (regarding art. 91b, para. 2), § 7, § 8, § 9, § 14 (regarding art. 129, para. 3) and § 15 (regarding art. 130, para. 3) of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria (Promulgation, State Gazette, No. 106 of 22.12.2023), due to conflict with Art. 153, 155 and Art. 158, items 3 and 4 of the Constitution.