The Speaker of Parliament has written to President Georgi Purvanov to request a copy of a recording of Purvanov's March 5 2010 meeting with Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov, to check the veracity of a transcript released by Purvanov's office  – while Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s party has said that the recording and transcript violated Dyankov's rights and the party may refer the matter to the Constitutional Court.
 
This was the latest twist in the drama that started with an appearance by Dyankov, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, on a television talk show on March 1 2010 on which Purvanov was lampooned.
 
Initially, an offended Purvanov demanded that Dyankov either prove allegations supposedly made against Purvanov during the show, or step down from office.
 
At Dyankov’s request, the two met at Purvanov’s office on March 5, and soon after the meeting, a transcript was posted on the website of the Presidency.
 
Borissov, who had declined to be drawn into the fight publicly, and on March 3 had suggested that the public spat between the head of state and the finance chief was unseemly, said in an interview published on March 6 that Purvanov had "stabbed him in the back".
 
Speaking to Bulgarian-language mass-circulation daily 24 Chassa, Borissov said that Purvanov’s actions in posting the transcript on the Presidency website showed that Purvanov had no intention of making relations among Bulgaria’s state institutions run smoothly.
 
Borissov said that Purvanov had started an "unprecedented war" against the Government.
 
Purvanov, Borissov said, should apologise for everything that had been done by the tripartite coalition that ran the country from 2005 to 2009.
 
Borissov was referring to the tripartite coalition of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, Movement for Rights and Freedoms and National Movement for Stability and Progress that formed a cabinet after the 2005 elections left no clear victor. Purvanov, who was the leader of the socialist party before becoming head of state in January 2002, is widely seen as having welded the socialist-led coalition.
 
According to the transcript, among the harsh statements made by Purvanov to Dyankov during their 30-minute conversation was to accuse Dyankov of damaging relations among Bulgaria’s state institutions.
 
 
Borissov’s party GERB, which won the majority of votes in the 2009 parliamentary elections, leaving Purvanov as the only senior office-bearer with a socialist background, said that the meeting with Dyankov that had been intended to clear the air instead had been turned into a political stunt by Purvanov.
It was clear that Purvanov was insincere about building working relations among institutions, and instead was intent on relaunching his political career when his second and final term as President came to an end, GERB’s executive said.
 
That Purvanov was motivated by self-interest was clear from him recording Dyankov without his permission and making the transcript public without informing Dyankov, which was a violation of the constitution, GERB said.
 
"We are facing an unprecedented situation," GERB said. The President was supposed to guarantee the rights of Bulgaria’s citizens but had dared to violate these rights.
 
If it was common practice for the President to record his conversations, on what basis were some made public and others not, and who made the decisions, GERB asked.
 
Speaker of Parliament Tsetska Tsacheva told journalists in the Lobby of Parliament on March 6 that she had written to request an authentic audio copy of the conversation to compare it with the transcript posted on the President’s site.
 
While Tsacheva declined to answer questions after announcing that she had sent the written request, GERB said that if it was found that Purvanov had violated the constitution, there should be consequences.
 
Senior GERB members and some commentators insisted that the episode in Purvanov’s office on March 5 was setting the scene for Purvanov to re-launch his political career.
 
Mira Radeva of MBMD polling agency said that Purvanov’s intentions were clear, and that he had used the Dyankov episode as a pretext to attack Borissov and the Prime Minister’s policies.
 
Speaking to Bulgarian National Television on March 5, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who is Deputy Prime Minister, Interior Minister and deputy leader of GERB, said that the goodwill shown by Dyankov in seeking a meeting to clear the air had not been repaid by Purvanov.
 
Not all commentaries favoured the ruling party and Dyankov. Earlier in the week, a number of commentators, aligned to Bulgaria’s left-wing, hit out at the Finance Minister for behaving inappropriately, showing levity and disrespecting the presidential institution. The socialist party also has repeatedly criticised Dyankov for what it describes as his "gaffes".