The MPs have finally decided to close the Anti-Corruption Commission. The proposal received the approval of the Legal Committee at second reading on Tuesday, Nova TV reported.
It is planned to divide the functions between two institutions, and all archival cases will go to the State Anti-Corruption Agency. The powers to uncover corruption will be taken over by the State Audit Office and the National Investigation Service, while prevention and declarations of conflict of interest for property will be transferred to the National Audit Office.
The bill was submitted by GERB in early January. In the Legal Committee, it was supported by the party's deputies, as well as by “DPS - New Beginning“, BSP and ITN. Two other bills – by “DPS - New Beginning“ and the “We continue the change - Democratic Bulgaria“, were rejected on first reading.
The ruling party and the opposition entered into an argument over who created the commission and for what reasons. According to the PP-DB, the ruling party did not want a real reform of the commission.
"Borisov and Peevski did everything possible to prevent the reform of the CPC, they blocked it. Their only salvation is to close this body so that Brussels does not hold them accountable. It is a lie that this commission was ever attempted to be reformed. They are afraid and that is why they are closing it", believes Lena Borislavova.
The submitters of the amendments responded.
"The hypocrisy is endless, we adopted the bill together. You talk about how this commission is a scumbag, you talk about justice, and it was you who organized Borisov's arrest. It was illegal - is this your justice, shame on you," said Georgi Krastev from GERB.
Natalia Kiselova pointed out that a big mistake was made with the creation of the CPC. "Mixing criminal law aspects with administrative law aspects is incorrect. After 2 years, this problem is being sought to be solved. The question is how Bulgaria fights corruption and how to prevent conflicts of interest. This conversation does not end with the closure of the commission," commented the MP from BSP-OL.
"Vazrazhdane" doubted the effect of the proposed changes.
"GERB's request to fight corruption sounds absurd. Two years after the creation of a specialized law, it is naive to think that the Court of Audit will continue the fight with these employees," said Petar Petrov.