Home » News » They want isolation of the deputies in the new hall for BGN 23 million, which is empty

They want isolation of the deputies in the new hall for BGN 23 million, which is empty

It has been used for only 6 months and Slavi’s and Maya’s parties have accused GERB of hiding from the disgruntled electorate – the former Party House could not be attacked by protesters

The deputies should return to the new plenary hall of the Party House so that anti-epidemic measures can be observed.

This idea was launched by the former Minister of Health, now a GERB MP, Kostadin Angelov, after the capital’s RHI quarantined the entire parliamentary budget committee due to the former COVID illness of former Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova. Initially, the deputies feared that the entire National Assembly could be quarantined.

In the plenary, the deputies are now sitting very close to each other.

In the plenary, the deputies are now sitting very close to each other.

“What is happening in parliament is irresponsible. We are crammed like anchovies, no rules are followed, MPs do not wear masks. We have a much bigger hall, where there is ventilation, a greater distance from each other between the deputies, the risk there is much smaller “, Kostadin Angelov asked in an interview with Nova TV on Saturday.

KOSTADIN ANGELOV

KOSTADIN ANGELOV

Petkova has been under quarantine since Friday, and in addition to the Finance Committee, two deputies from the Energy Committee are in isolation due to contact with her. This week, 9 others from GERB, PP, ITN and MRF are participating in the meetings online. Among them is the head of the National Assembly Nikola Minchev, due to whose illness President Rumen Radev, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, ministers and others were quarantined.

TEMENUZHKA PETKOVA

TEMENUZHKA PETKOVA

BGN 23,039,041.50 with VAT were given for the reconstruction of the hall “St. Sofia ”of the former Party House in plenary. There are 270 deputy banks in 12 rows, with a displacement of 1.70 m between the first and the last. The width between the banks is 90 cm, and the counters themselves are also larger so that laptops can be assembled on them and microphones can be installed for speeches from the spot. In the current hall, the deputies sit about 40 cm apart. The tables in front of them, which separate the rows, are much narrower – so much so that they do not collect the A4 sheet and the work program of the parliament, as well as the bills are distributed on A5 paper.

The pandemic was also cited as the main reason for moving from the building on Narodno Sabranie Square 2 to that of the former Party House in 2020. Then GERB explained that the hall “minimizes the epidemic risk” because at that time the distance between the banks he also met the distance requirements by order of the Minister of Health. However, parliamentary gossips claim that the relocation was caused by the boss Tsveta Karayancheva, who wanted to be the first president to open the hall. Deputies were also accused of hiding from the people because the Party House building could not be blocked by protests.

The deputies from the 44th National Assembly sat in the new hall for only 6 months – from September 2020 to February 2021. During this time, the renovation works in the building continued. There was work in the deputies’ offices, the corridors and even the canteen. The MPs had to eat in an improvised chair in one of the halls used by the CEC. Otherwise, its renovation is for BGN 350,000 and the deputies will be separated by a screen of guests and journalists.

The biggest scandal surrounding the relocation came precisely because MPs were isolated from the media. The journalists were separated in a press center 3 floors below the plenary hall. Their access to the upper floors was denied. And even if someone managed to get on, the newly renovated parts could only be reached with electronic cards that opened the doors.

Parliamentary sessions were watched by journalists on TV sets, which often did not work. And after making a subscription, which included citizens, Karayancheva gave them access to a hall that was supposed to be used for recreation by the deputies, but whose existence it turned out that they did not even suspect. The situation escalated to the point that even European institutions wrote recommendations to Karayancheva, and in order not to change the measures, she twice asked the deputies from the rostrum to pick up their phones to the journalists.

Returning to the old National Assembly building was the first decision of the 45th parliament in April. It was proposed by the deputies of Slavi Trifonov from “There is such a people”, and only GERB was “against”. After returning to the traditional parliament building, then-National Assembly Speaker Iva Miteva lifted all restrictions on journalists and opened a “banned” eastern corridor in front of the president’s office. The ban was returned when Nikola Minchev headed the National Assembly.

The ideas to move the parliament entirely to the former Party House date back to the mid-1990s. Renovation began only in 2016 and was due to be completed in mid-2018 due to Bulgaria’s EU presidency, but continues until today. At this stage, a completely new building with 4 elevators is ready to connect with the floors of the existing building for easier access to the plenary hall. A major overhaul is being made for BGN 462,000 without VAT in a hiding place for the deputies in case of an air, chemical or other attack. Renovation of their offices began in February. Currently, the repair of the wing, which is on the side of Knyaz Al. Dondukov ”.

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