Bulgaria’s unicameral Parliament, the National Assembly, has named the chairpersons of its committees – in some cases, not without controversy.
 
Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s party GERB, which won the July 5 2009 elections and from whose ranks the Cabinet sworn in on July 27 has been drawn, held back from taking the full number of committee chairpersonships to which it is entitled.
 
This has meant a chance for smaller parties to take the leaderships of committees.
 
Some former ministers from the now-defunct Sergei Stanishev cabinet have been given chairpersonships.
 
GERB will have, in accordance with the rules of Parliament, no members on the anti-corruption committee, which will be headed by Yane Yanev, leader of the Order Law and Justice party – which fought the elections under the slogan "Stop the Corruption".
 
There was controversy about an attempt to put Delyan Peevski, who under the Stanishev administration was deputy minister of emergency situations and who was alleged – an allegation later withdrawn – of corruption, on to the anti-corruption committee.
 
The proposal was voted down, with only Stanishev’s socialist Coalition for Bulgaria and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, of which Peevski is a member, voting for Peevski. The MRF, angered by the rejection, said that Parliament was taking on to itself the functions of a court of law.
 
Dimitar Chukarski of Yanev’s OLJ party will head the committee on foreign policy.
 
The committee on the economy, energy and tourism is to be headed by Martin Dimitrov, co-leader of the centre-right Blue Coalition.
 
Dimitrov’s party colleague Yordan Bakalov will head the committee on human rights, religion and citizens’ petitions.
 
Ataka MP Ognyan Stoichkov will head the committee on education, science, children, youth and sport.
 
GERB’s Luchezar Ivanov will chair the committee on health care.
 
Former environment minister Djevdet Chakurov of the MRF will be chairperson of the parliamentary committee on the environment and water, while former emergency situations minister Emel Etem will be deputy chairperson of the committee on culture, civil society and the media, former labour and social policy minister Emilia Maslarova of the BSP will head the parliamentary committee on that portfolio, former transport minister Petar Moutafchiev will be deputy head of the transport committee and Roumen Ovcharov, who was economy minister under Stanishev before being ousted, will be deputy chairperson of the committee on the budget.
 
The committee on the State Agency for National Security will be chaired on a rotation basis by representatives of all parties with the exception of ruling party GERB. The first will be Ivan Kostov, co-leader of the Blue Coalition.
 
Participation in committees, and in leadership positions, means a little extra in the pay packets of MPs.
 
The process of choosing committee chairpersons has also been dogged by continuing controversy about the GERB-led Parliament’s move to bar from leadership positions anyone tainted by having participated in the communist-era security services – a move that Stanishev’s socialists claim is unconstitutional.

Five new MPs were sworn in on July 28 to replace their GERB colleagues who have been given ministries. They are Vyara Ivanova, Yanko Zdravkov, Tsveta Karayancheva and Stefani Mihailova, news agency Focus said.

The next round of leadership announcements is expected on August 3, when it is expected that the names of deputy ministers will be announced.