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Bulgaria's ruling coalition seeks to oust top judicial body

26 January 2016, 22:47 CET
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(SOFIA) - Bulgaria's ruling right-wing coalition Tuesday made an unprecedented demand for the resignation of the country's top judiciary body after a series of scandals.

"We call on the Supreme Judicial Council to dissolve itself. After the series of public scandals that it was embroiled in, the current Council can no longer count on our trust," parliamentary group head of the ruling conservative GERB party, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, said.

The 25-member Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) is Bulgaria's top judiciary body responsible for all appointments in a much criticised system.

Tsvetanov accused its members of not focusing on problems in the judiciary but instead indulging in "political influence peddling and catering for different corporate and economic interests."

GERB's coalition partners from the small right-wing Reformist Bloc backed Tuesday's move.

Asked if the move breaks the separation of powers principle, Zelenogorsky said the two parties were expressing the opinion of their voters and this "does not touch upon the independence of the judiciary."

The ruling parties cannot force the SJC to disband itself, however.

The call came a day before the EU's executive arm -- the European Commission -- was set to issue a damning report on Bulgaria's patchy progress in fighting corruption and reforming its slow and inefficient court system.

The 25-member SJC was embroiled in a series of scandals recently that opened a rift between its members.

Experts and the media criticised the body for its alleged dependence on political circles, leading lack of transparency on nominations and even outright nepotism in the appointment of top judges.

The SJC did not comment on the party's demand it disband.

Bulgaria came under fire from its trading partners Monday over its failure to push forward with judicial and legal reforms.

But GERB pledged Tuesday to push through key legislative changes to root out corruption and improve efficiency.


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