Prime minister Rumen Radev's remarks after the Sofia Economic Forum were not an administrative breach of the Electoral Code, the Central Election Commission (CEC) ruled today at a regular meeting. The vote was 8 for and 7 against.
Radev spoke on 26 October, and the government press office later circulated his remarks. As early as Monday, Bozhidar Bozhanov, co-chair of Yes, Bulgaria, wrote on Facebook that the government had broken the code and asked the commission to rule at once.
Earlier on this story: Bozhanov: government violated the Election Code with pre-election campaigning
The complaint to the CEC came from Konstantin Valkov, who represents the initiative committee backing Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev for president and vice president. He says the statement is pre-election campaigning and breaks Article 168, paragraph 3, which bans the free use of public administrative resources in connection with a campaign. There are also complaints of a breach of Article 183. Non-governmental groups registered as election observers filed similar complaints.
In its reasons, the commission says the statement was made outside a state or municipal body, institution or enterprise, or a company in which the state and municipalities hold more than 50% of the capital. It adds that the remarks came before the start of the election campaign, that is, before Decision No. 417 of 27 October, in which the CEC announced the results of the first round of the presidential and vice-presidential election.
The meeting broke off for two hours before the vote because commission members disagreed. Alina Dobreva and Vyara Todeva objected to the decision.
Follow-up: Yes, Bulgaria to appeal election commission ruling on over 105 complaints