A court case is under way over the election of a rector at the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy (UCTM), and no major decision can be made until the court rules, education and science minister Prof Georgi Valchev said. The ministry has sent a letter to the university's management, and a meeting with it is planned.
Valchev was speaking to parliament's education and science committee. Pavel Popov of the Democratic Bulgaria parliamentary group asked him who is running UCTM now. The minister said the letter shows the legal practice in such a case.
Prof Dancho Danalev is acting rector after Prof Senya Terzieva-Zhelyazkova left. She led the university until May, when she became deputy minister of education and science. In July, UCTM voted for a rector to finish her term, which runs to 2027.
Two candidates stood in the election: Danalev and Prof Nikolay Karev. Popov said Karev won more votes and is considered elected. But Danalev filed an appeal before the result was confirmed, and the case reached the Supreme Administrative Court.
"Right now UCTM has a situation of dual power, and it is hard for me to describe it any other way," Popov said. He said a court ruling is still a long way off.