Ruling party GERB has started collecting signatures in Parliament to initiate an impeachment procedure against President Georgi Purvanov, Bulgarian media said on March 19 2010.

After three hours of discussions, the five parties who said that they would sign in favour of starting the impeachment procedures against Purvanov agreed on the formal grounds for requesting it.

The talks were held among representatives of GERB, the right-wing Blue Coalition, the ultra-nationalist Ataka party and the centre-right Order, Law and Justice party.

At the end of the talks, GERB's Krassimir Velchev told reporters that they were seeking Purvanov's impeachment on the basis of article 32 paragraph 2 of Bulgaria's constitution, which says that "no one shall be followed, photographed, filmed, recorded or subjected to any other similar activity without his knowledge or despite his express disapproval, except when such actions are permitted by law".

The final version of the motives will be ready by March 24 2010. The motives can be tabled in Parliament only if the Prime Minister is in the country. Given that Prime Minister Boiko Borissov is scheduled to travel abroad next week - visiting Qatar and Kuwait from March 21 to 24, this is expected to delay the procedure, although Velchev said that GERB was determined to go ahead with it.

GERB decided to start the procedure after Purvanov posted online the transcripts of a March 5 meeting between himself and Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov.

Dyankov said that he had not been informed that the meeting was being recorded which, according to GERB, was a violation of the constitution.

At his March 12 news conference, Purvanov said that there could be no compromises as long an impeachment procedure against him was underway.

"After the issue gets reviewed by the Constitutional Court we can start afresh," Purvanov said.

A motion to start a debate in Parliament on impeaching the President needs to be supported by a minimum of 60 out of 240 MPs.

To approve the motion and send it to the Constitutional Court, the ruling majority would need 161 votes.

GERB has 117 MPs. Ataka, the Blue Coalition and OLJ would provide GERB with the needed 161 votes, given that two other independent MPs are also expected to support it.

The two parties in opposition, the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, said they would not support the motion.

At a round table discussion in Parliament on March 17 2010, experts and lawyers agreed that the grounds on which GERB is seeking Purvanov's impeachment would not stand up in the Constitutional Court.