Transparency International – Bulgaria has participated continuously on a regular basis with its expert position on electoral legislation issues in the country, including by providing to the 42^nd National Assembly a set of proposals for amendments in the Election Code.

At the same time, by staying true to its core mission to be an impartial and politically neutral representative of the interests of civil society, Transparency International – Bulgaria will not participate in the discussion, scheduled for 26 June, 2013 by the Commission for Cooperation with Civil Society Organizations for Amendment of the Election Code. The main reason is the lack of any clarity on the legitimacy of the format under which the consultations regarding one of the most important topics of the current public agenda will be held. The fact that the 42^nd National Assembly presently cannot function, speaks for itself that any form of discussion of the proposals, made by the civil society organizations, is not possible.

We declare our readiness for dialogue when the parliamentary political forces explicitly state their commitment to it, define a time frame and scope in which it will be conducted, clearly define its final goal, including by giving an answer to the question whether there will be early elections in the country.

Transparency International – Bulgaria will resume participation in the dialogue only after a clear commitment by the political parties that the amendments, which will be a subject of the discussion, will find their real legislative implementation, and the consultations will not be used for partisan purposes.

We remind that Transparency International – Bulgaria prioritized the following set of proposals as an instrument for overcoming the most significant deficiencies of the electoral process: (1) creation and maintenance of accurate voter lists; (2) easing the requirements for registration and participation in the electoral process; (3) provision for fair and equal access to media (free access to public media); (4) regulation of new responsibilities of the electoral administration; (5) expanded implementation of the model for regional ballot-counting centers; (6) inclusion in the Election Code of the methodology for calculation of voting results; (7) introduction of preferential voting with low threshold; (8) clarification of key legal concepts, including the statute of the elections observers and definition of electioneering (full text of the proposal is published on the following web address: http://transparency.bg).

Any other approach in the current situation would be inconsistent with the public society interests in the country.

Sofia, 26 June 2013

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL – BULGARIA