The parliamentary group of We Continue the Change (PP) has collected signatures to call a new extraordinary session of parliament over the pardon of Ognyan Atanasov, known as the "Petrich Escobar". Group leader Nikolay Denkov told reporters in the parliament lobby.

This story follows our earlier report on a call by Democratic Bulgaria for a hearing with the State Agency for National Security (DANS), the interior ministry, the Execution of Sentences directorate and the head of the prison hospital over President Iliana Yotova's pardon of Atanasov.

PP wants the session held on Tuesday next week. Democratic Bulgaria and GERB-SDS back the call. PP MP Stoyu Stoev said Vazrazhdane had not signed.

Denkov rejected claims that the call is an election stunt. He said PP will keep pressing for answers after the vote too. "What we see is a systemic problem with how pardons are granted in Bulgaria," he said.

Denkov said there is no way to find out what information the medical panel gave, what the pardons commission advised, or on what grounds the decision was made. Every attempt to get the information hits "a wall", he said. It must be made clear why it is still being hidden.

He added that it also emerged last week that the commission worked for six months without a quorum.

Stoev said the president's office gives out information selectively. Other MPs say they have the full documents, while PP is not given them. He said that if answers are given under the Access to Public Information Act, the data should be open to everyone. Stoev said voters should know how the president has used her powers before, so they can make an informed choice on Sunday next week.

PP MP Boyko Rashkov commented on Yotova's statement that the material will be sent to the prosecutor's office. He said this shows the facts can be used in public once pre-trial proceedings begin, since details covered by investigation secrecy cannot be released.

Rashkov cited an MP's remarks about mercy and replied that the president's office is not a hospital, and the president and vice president are not nurses. He noted that a verdict is announced in public, even if it contains state secrets or spying details and the case was heard behind closed doors.

Rashkov doubts the medical assessment of the pardoned man's health, which Petar Vitanov spoke about in an interview, and wants to know who signed the findings. He said everyone has seen a clip that speaks volumes about the "dying swan".