Bulgarian Parliament Committee to Discuss Constitutional Changes on 3rd Reading

A committee with Bulgaria's Parliament are set to discuss on Monday amendments to the constitutions that will pave the way for judicial reform, amid tensions between parties in the ruling coalition.

Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov stepped down last week after MPs amended last week the reform proposals, ones he had submitted and declared his main priority.

The draft introduced on last week's second reading cannot be amended in the third one.

Lawmakers are to hold a plenary vote later this week.

MPs' decision to backtrack on some of the changes agreed in the summer and Ivanov's resignation prompted DSB, one of the parties within junior coalition partner Reformist Bloc (RB), to withdraw its support from the government and move into opposition.

The bone of contention was a proposal which would have allowed Parliament and the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office to appoint an equal number of judges and prosecutors to each of the respective colleges of the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS), a body widely described as a "government of the judiciary".