The work of the Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor's Office is of crucial importance for the conduct of fair elections in Bulgaria. This was commented on by lawyer Petar Slavov and former deputy city prosecutor Roman Vassilev, emphasizing that without active actions against vote buying, the electoral process could be seriously compromised.
According to Roman Vassilev, during elections, an operational headquarters is traditionally created, in which representatives of the Ministry of Interior, the Prosecutor's Office and the investigative bodies participate.
„The Ministry of Interior is the body that must monitor and curb vote buying trends. The Prosecutor's Office is the next step – "it must bring charges against the identified violators," he pointed out.
According to him, if the police do not actively use their intelligence and operational resources, the elections could be seriously influenced by illegal practices.
The experts also recalled cases from previous elections when lists of alleged intermediaries and organizers of vote buying were publicly presented: “These individuals are known to the police. The question is whether adequate actions are being taken to prevent their activities“.
As an example of problems in the work of the institutions, a situation from the last elections in Pazardzhik was cited, in which citizens detained people with significant amounts of money, allegedly intended for buying votes.
According to the experts, the actions of the police at that time seemed chaotic, which raised doubts about the effectiveness of the institutions.
The signal filed by the Bulgarian European Prosecutor Teodora Georgieva against “representatives of the Bulgarian prosecution service and a political leader sanctioned by the US and the UK for corruption“ was also commented on.
According to the commentators, such allegations should be examined by the competent authorities, and not remain only in the media space.
“When specific magistrates or politicians are named, this should be stated to the investigating authorities, in order to take real procedural actions“, believes Petar Slavov.
The conversation also touched on the issue of the legitimacy of the acting Prosecutor General.
According to analysts, there is a risk that certain actions and investigations will be questioned if it later turns out that the decisions were taken by a person with disputed legitimacy.
If the court accepts that such acts are not valid, it may lead to the abandonment of entire investigations, experts estimate.