President Rumen Radev has returned for new discussion in the National Assembly the amendments to the State Agency for National Security (SANS) Act, adopted on October 2 this year, which assign the power to appoint or dismiss the chairman of the agency to the National Assembly.

The head of state pointed out that the shared competence between the head of state and the government, under the current legal regime, was a guarantee for an objective assessment of the experience and qualities of the candidates. Thus, the process of appointing or dismissing the chair of SANS does not depend on changes in the political situation and the amendments to the SANS Act unreasonably compromise these guarantees, President Radev pointed out.

As a main argument, the head of state recalls the events 12 years ago, when the power to appoint and dismiss the chair of the agency was first assigned to the National Assembly, which elected Delyan Peevski. This caused strong public protests. The president also points out that the new changes do not offer any guarantees that the parliament would not act in a similar manner in the future.

In addition, the experience of recent years shows that in its personnel decisions, the National Assembly has either been inactive for years or has acted in violation of the Constitution, Radev says.

It is precisely because of the behavior of the National Assembly that the principle of term limits for a number of high-ranking state positions, which is a fundamental pillar of democratic governance, is currently severely compromised in the country, the head of state also says. By entrusting the decisions to elect and dismiss the chair of the State Agency for National Security to the National Assembly, there is a risk that any change in the political situation will lead to a change in the chair.

Editor: Darina Grigorova

Publication in English: Al. Markov

Photo: BGNES