AFTER five unsuccessful attempts to elect a head of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) last autumn, the Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) has elected Konstantin Penchev, until now an MP and deputy floor leader of the National Movement Simeon II (NMSII).
Penchev was the only candidate and was elected by 19 votes. Four SJC members voted against and one cast an invalid ballot.
Penchev was nominated by the SJC members, which were chosen by the Parliamentary quota of the majority at the beginning of December 2003.
Most of the Bulgarian-language media described the choice of Penchev as the result of a consensus, after last year Parliament adopted amendments to the Judiciary Act, according which heads of supreme courts may be elected only with the votes of more than two thirds of the SJC members.
According to one of the members of the SAC, Alexander Vodenicharov, Penchev said he was ready to resign from Parliament and the NMSII in accordance with the Judiciary Act and the Political Parties Act.
Vodenicharov rejected speculation that as head of the SAC, Penchev would probably support the political decisions of the Government.
According to reports in some Bulgarian-language media, however, Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg had insisted that Penchev be elected SAC chairperson and had lobbied the judiciary to support the candidacy.
Before the voting, the head of the Supreme Cassation Court (SCC) Ivan Grigorov said that electing Penchev would be "direct and blatant political interference in the Bulgarian justice system".
According to Grigorov, Penchev's candidacy constituted a conflict of interests because of the upcoming ruling by the SAC on a court application against the restitution of property to Saxe-Coburg.
"I learned from the media about the direct involvement of Saxe-Coburg in the matter", Grigorov said in an interview with the Blitz show of the Radio New Europe, the successor to Radio Free Europe.
"But I have heard from people who were summoned to the NMSII caucus room in Parliament that Plamen Panayotov and Daniel Vulchev were told that Penchev was the personal choice of Saxe-Coburg and they should support him."
The SAC is one of the courts that have a direct bearing on the governing of the state because it can overrule Government decisions.
The Saxe-Coburg Government has a long history of friction with the SAC because the court has overruled its decisions on the privatisation of Bulgartabac and the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) and on the closure of units 3 and 4 of the Kozlodui nuclear power plant.
"The appointment of a strict party man as head of the SAC would, to say the least, provoke doubts in society," Grigorov said. "Because, if on a certain occasion the Government is right and the SAC upholds its decision, people would think that this happened because the head of the SAC was from the NMSII."
This week President Georgi Purvanov signed the appointment of Penchev to the SAC in spite his initial criticism.
"In spite the overwhelming majority with which Penchev was elected, I can't help but express my alarm at the fact that there was considerable pressure on the part of the majority, the NMSII in particular, which bordered on political pressure," Purvanov said in an interview with the Vsyaka Nedelya talk show on BNT on Sunday.
- Staff Reporter
Penchev was the only candidate and was elected by 19 votes. Four SJC members voted against and one cast an invalid ballot.
Penchev was nominated by the SJC members, which were chosen by the Parliamentary quota of the majority at the beginning of December 2003.
Most of the Bulgarian-language media described the choice of Penchev as the result of a consensus, after last year Parliament adopted amendments to the Judiciary Act, according which heads of supreme courts may be elected only with the votes of more than two thirds of the SJC members.
According to one of the members of the SAC, Alexander Vodenicharov, Penchev said he was ready to resign from Parliament and the NMSII in accordance with the Judiciary Act and the Political Parties Act.
Vodenicharov rejected speculation that as head of the SAC, Penchev would probably support the political decisions of the Government.
According to reports in some Bulgarian-language media, however, Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg had insisted that Penchev be elected SAC chairperson and had lobbied the judiciary to support the candidacy.
Before the voting, the head of the Supreme Cassation Court (SCC) Ivan Grigorov said that electing Penchev would be "direct and blatant political interference in the Bulgarian justice system".
According to Grigorov, Penchev's candidacy constituted a conflict of interests because of the upcoming ruling by the SAC on a court application against the restitution of property to Saxe-Coburg.
"I learned from the media about the direct involvement of Saxe-Coburg in the matter", Grigorov said in an interview with the Blitz show of the Radio New Europe, the successor to Radio Free Europe.
"But I have heard from people who were summoned to the NMSII caucus room in Parliament that Plamen Panayotov and Daniel Vulchev were told that Penchev was the personal choice of Saxe-Coburg and they should support him."
The SAC is one of the courts that have a direct bearing on the governing of the state because it can overrule Government decisions.
The Saxe-Coburg Government has a long history of friction with the SAC because the court has overruled its decisions on the privatisation of Bulgartabac and the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) and on the closure of units 3 and 4 of the Kozlodui nuclear power plant.
"The appointment of a strict party man as head of the SAC would, to say the least, provoke doubts in society," Grigorov said. "Because, if on a certain occasion the Government is right and the SAC upholds its decision, people would think that this happened because the head of the SAC was from the NMSII."
This week President Georgi Purvanov signed the appointment of Penchev to the SAC in spite his initial criticism.
"In spite the overwhelming majority with which Penchev was elected, I can't help but express my alarm at the fact that there was considerable pressure on the part of the majority, the NMSII in particular, which bordered on political pressure," Purvanov said in an interview with the Vsyaka Nedelya talk show on BNT on Sunday.
- Staff Reporter
