Bulgaria’s Parliament Voted down Presidential Veto on PPC Amendments Related to Special Prosecutor

Bulgaria's National Assembly voted on February 17 to overturn President Roumen Radev's vetoes on amendments to the country's Penal Procedure Code and the urban planning law.

The Penal Procedure Code bill, which envisions the appointment of a special prosecutor with the authority to investigate the top ranks of the prosecutor's office, was vetoed in its entirety, with Radev saying in his motives that it did not "offer a just and sustainable solution to the problem of lacking effective investigation of the Prosecutor-General or Deputy Prosecutor-General."

The motion to overturn the veto passed with 125 MPs in favour, 77 opposed and three abstentions. The veto was backed only by the two largest opposition parties, the socialists and predominantly ethnic Turk Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF).

In the debate preceding the vote, opposition MPs largely echoed the points raised by the head of state, describing the position of the special prosecutor as a "legislative Frankenstein."

In riposte, government coalition MPs argued that this was the only way,