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Novinte.com
July 2,
2003
Summary:
Bulgaria���s Parliament
passed a new Electoral
code which changes the voting system from direct party list full
representation (proportional representation) to a parallel semi-proportional
system.
Novinte.com, the Bulgarian News
Bulgaria's
Electoral Code Passed at First Reading
July 2, 2003
Following a row within the ruling party and hot
debates, Bulgaria's Parliament passed the new Electoral Code at
first reading.
Out of 175 MPs that cast their
vote, 160 backed the code, one voted no and fourteen abstained. A
large group of the ruling party's MPs who are against the bill left
the hall during the debates and did not take part in the ballot. The
draft of the new code was tabled by MP Emil Koshlukov from the
incumbent majority who was said to have had a loud quarrel with a
group from his own party late on Wednesday. His vision combines
proportional representation with a majority electoral system. The
code passed on Wednesday constitutes that half of Bulgaria's
lawmakers should be elected according to the majority system while
the rest will represent proportionally the different parties. Thus
the voters need to cast two voting-papers. Another provision in the
emerging code would turn permanent the Central Election Commission.
Its members will be elected in equal quotas by the Parliament, the
president and the Supreme Cassation Court and replaced every three
years. |
