Bulgaria has one old and two new Cabinet ministers after, on July 18, Parliament approved changes to the Government led by Sergei Stanishev. The changes came almost two years after the coalition Government was formed by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMSP) and Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). With 152 in favour, 57 against and four abstentions, MPs approved the three changes. The result was expected because in the 240-seat Parliament, the ruling coalition has a majority of 168 seats.
Petar Dimitrov, a BSP MP and until now chairperson of Parliament’s budget committee, is the new Economy and Energy Minister, replacing Roumen Ovcharov. Ovcharov, a strong BSP figure and leader of the BSP branch in Sofia, resigned amid corruption allegations. Miglena Tacheva is the new Justice Minister, replacing the NMSP’s Georgi Petkanov, who resigned at the same time as Ovcharov, citing personal reasons. The old-new minister is Nihat Kabil of the MRF. His business card now will read Minister of Agriculture and Food as opposed to Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.
Dimitrov has the image of one of BSP’s hardliners when it comes to economic policy. He is behind the party’s economic programme and won media attention a month ago when, at the 46th BSP congress, he proposed two controversial ideas. First he told BSP delegates that there should be a new tax called “the lux tax,” aimed at the people with high incomes. He suggested that there should be a referendum on tax policy as well. Several days later, Dimitrov said that he was in favour of introducing a flat tax rate, which contradicted his original idea about the “lux tax”. On July 13, when his name appeared as Ovcharov’s successor, Dimitrov told reporters that his idea for a “successful Bulgaria” was for the country to become “a tax haven for business”. Among the challenges that face Dimitrov is the ministry itself. On July 17, Dimitrov told Bulgarian-language 24 Chassa that his only worry was that the Economy and Energy Ministry was too big an institution and he might need several months to get to know it.
As for Tacheva, her appointment could be seen as a natural result of NMSP efforts to keep the current distribution of ministerial seats among the three parties unchanged: eight for the BSP, five for the NMSP and three for the MRF.
All of these moves were negotiated on July 13 when the leaders of the three ruling parties met to discuss the Cabinet changes. The BSP’s Stanishev, the NMSP's Simeon Saxe-Coburg and MRF’s Ahmed Dogan agreed on the new ministers and on the creation of a National Security Agency (NSA) and a State Forestry Agency (SFA). The two new bodies were initiatives from Stansihev himself. On June 4, Stanishev suggested the creation of the NSA and the SFA. Stanishev’s idea was that the two new bodies will reduce the scope of activities run by the Ministers of Interior and Agriculture. The NSA will incorporate crime fighting institutions currently managed by the Interior Ministry and financial investigation bodies within the Finance Ministry. The SFA will take control of forest management policies from Kabil’s ministry.
Analysts have been saying for the past month that the real motivation behind Stanishev’s ideas is reforms to reduce the power of Interior Minister Roumen Petkov, who after the resignation of his fellow party member Ovcharov, is seen as the powerful figure in the Cabinet. The SFA, on the other hand, is designed to cut the influence of the MRF in forest management policies, especially in the view of the European Union subsidies which have to be absorbed.
Stanishev has already received the support of President Georgi Purvanov, who said that the contemplated structural changes were a step towards improving the Government’s efficiency. Purvanov supported the idea for the NSA to co-ordinate the work of the other competent departments. In June, Purvanov said “implemented successfully, this idea would be especially useful in times when crime, terrorism and the national security risks and threats are a major challenge”. Stanishev’s idea to set up a SFA to take up the management of the forestry sector and control a forestry fund was described as “reasonable” by Purvanov.
The idea about NSA was not warmly welcomed by Petkov, who cited “administrative and institutional problems” but after the meeting on July 13, a political group of representatives of the three ruling parties was formed to prepare the legislative basis for the formation of the NSA.
As for the SFA, the MRF showed no resistance. It will be structured through a parliamentary resolution. After that, the Cabinet will designate the chairperson and senior officials of the SFA. It will be formed by separation from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food on the basis of the National Forestry Board. The leadership of the SFA will have to prepare all legislative revisions arising from its establishment.
The July 13 meeting had a message for the people working in the state sector as well. Stanishev, Saxe-Coburg and Dogan again backed the position of the Council of Ministers that another increase in salaries, beyond the 10 per cent planned from July 1, was impossible before the end of the year.
