At the end of their four-year term in office, Bulgaria’s three ruling parties seem determined to fill a number of key public positions, in the face of protests by the opposition that to do so would be inappropriate in the final weeks before a new Parliament is elected.

Complicating matters is that some of the appointments to regulatory bodies are well past deadline, fuelling ire among the opposition and raising the question why the Government waited so long to make appointments that the new Parliament – and new Cabinet – will inherit.

Speaking to Nova Televisia on May 18, Anton Koutev, an MP for senior ruling coalition partner the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), said that the appointments had been delayed because the Government had more important things to do in terms of legislation.

The law allows bodies whose terms of office have expired to continue to function until new members are appointed.

Koutev said that the fact that the Government had not hastened to make appointments was proof that the ruling parties were not in a rush simply to put their own people in place just for the sake of having them there.

"Most of the positions we are talking about have terms of between one and two years, so the new parliamentary majority will have its share in appointing whoever they want a few years after the elections," Koutev said.

This view was rejected by Atanas Atanasov, an MP for right-wing opposition party the Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria, who said that making the appointments at the last possible moment was a bad signal and indicated political deals among the three ruling parties.

In theory, Parliament appoints most of the new appointees, which means that the opposition could put forward its own nominations. But so far it seems that opposition parties will not take part in the process, because they suspect that the ruling coalition – the BSP, National Movement for Stability and Progress and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – already have a deal sharing out the spoils.

Arguably the most significant post to be handed out is that of governor of Bulgarian National Bank. The term of incumbent Ivan Iskrov expires in October this year and his successor has to be appointed in June.

The National Social Security Institute and the National Health Insurance Fund are also on the list. Other regulatory bodies where appointments must be made are the Financial Supervision Commission,  the Commission for Protection of Competition, the National Audit Office, the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission and the newly set up body that will exercise control over the use of special intelligence methods by the police.