11 July 2008

The forum was organized on the occasion of the Constitution Day– 12 July 2008, and the 17th anniversary since the adoption of the modern Bulgarian constitution.
Chairman Pirisnki noticed that it has become tradition members of the Seventh Great National Assembly to take part in such events, as well as present members, magistrates and experts on constitutional matters. Georgi Pirinski reminded that in the morning the National Assembly unanimously has adopted an address to the Bulgarian people titled “Bulgaria – Parliamentary Republic” . He underscored that the fact that the country is parliamentary republic, makes the authority of the National Assembly essential for the statehood.
Yanaki Stoilov – MP from Coalition for Bulgaria and Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee Chairman said that the Constitution gives Bulgaria the character of a country where democracy, social cohesion and supremacy of the law are dominant – very important aspects that do not exhaust the political and social role of the State in present day Bulgaria. He mentioned that it was a myth that all failures have their roots in the constitution and that this misconception should be dispelled. Those who share this belief think that the adoption of a new constitution will automatically lead to the reality we all aspire to. In his view, the practice in the world has proven, such expectations to be unrealistic. On the other side he admitted that the present constitution was drawn up at the beginning of the transition to democracy and it reflects values, models and expectations which were not fully attained and have shown defects on the way of their implementation. In his opinion, during the twenty years since the transition has begun, the multiple problems that have accumulated require reform of the political system. He suggested that in future, changes in the electoral system could be considered, where the number of deputies could be preserved (240) but the actual number should depend on the number of people who would have taken part in the elections.
Historian Andrey Pantev, MP from Coalition for Bulgaria, said that the political virtues were connected to the existence of a constitution. He said that it was not correct to talk about European or Atlantic virtues because the notion itself was the same for all mankind, but European and Atlantic political virtues were always connected to the presence of constitution.
Sociologist Antoniy Gulubov noticed that although there was much talk about crisis today, no one has put under question so far, parlliamentarism as such in the Bulgarian constitution. No one disputes the modern representative liberal democracy which is in the roots of the constitution.