Росен Плевнелиев: Електронното гласуване не бива да се разглежда просто като някаква техника, то е отношение към гражданите и към бизнеса

Росен Плевнелиев: Електронното гласуване не бива да се разглежда просто като някаква техника, то е отношение към гражданите и към бизнеса

„Хората искат ясна заявка за промяна. Това е една изключително позитивна обществена енергия. Аз съм благодарен на гражданското общество в България.

Ели ЩЕРЕВА

Focus

Bulgaria President takes part in forum dedicated to supremacy of law (ROUNDUP)

The conference was organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Austrian Business Council. The US and Austrian Ambassadors to Bulgaria, Marcie Ries and Gerhard Reiweger, representatives of the judicial, businesses, NGOs, and others were to take part in the event, too.

”Bulgaria is not where it would like to be with its idea of a pure and sacred republic. Bulgaria is not where it would like to be as far as the justice towards the citizens is concerned,” said Mr Plevneliev, speaking at the event.

The President pointed to the problems in Bulgaria, criticised the politicians and the Bulgarian political system, hailing at the same time the citizen’s position of the Bulgarian public and stating Bulgaria was moving in the right direction despite the outlined problems it had as a result of the lack of supremacy of the law now.

”The supremacy of the law is, in my view, the most important priority in Bulgaria’s development today. The state of law and order is a main pillar of the EU as the developed democracies a long time ago realised nothing else can be guaranteed if laws are not observed. Neither freedom of individuals, nor business initiatives. Therefore it is important each violation of laws is punished and the respective responsibility is assumed. [...] The most efficient solution to a problem is not simply trying to go after the problems and following them but having a pro-active position. This means preventing a problem from coming into existence and today we say in a clear and firm manner Bulgaria has a problem. This problem can no longer be concealed,” Mr Plevneliev remarked.
He also said reaching sustainable growth and prosperity meant going through many challenges and the most important ones posed threats to the supremacy of law and the still incomplete process of democratisation in a lot of countries in the region.

”The only way of solving the problems is pointing at them, not concealing them. Yes, Bulgaria is not where it would like to be with its idea of a pure and sacred republic. Bulgaria is not where it would like to be as far as the justice towards the citizens is concerned,” the President remarked.

”Supremacy of the law is a basic principle of democracy. A month ago Freedom House published its 18th report Nations in Transit 2014. The democratization indicator of our country continues to deteriorate. The study says our civil society becomes more and more active and dynamic. I would like to thank the citizens. They fill up a gap which we the politicians surely owe [a lot] to,” Plevneliev commented.

”For me it is important referendums are held not simply because of the 3 questions I formulated but because the citizens have to be asked many more things than these 3 questions,” Rosen Plevneliev stated.

In his speech the President emphasised the strength of the civil society in Bulgaria, the necessity of changes in our country regarding democracy and supremacy of the laws. As part of the methods for reaching these goals the President pointed namely at the referendum as a form of support for representative democracy through the methods of direct democracy.

”People want clear moves in favour of a change. This is really positive society’s energy. I am thankful to the civil society in Bulgaria. Today people are ”armed” with their smart phones, Facebook accounts, social networks and their desire to be informed and seek a positive change. We are among the 7 most developed countries in terms of Internet speed. More transparency is wanted and from that point on everything can be uploaded onto websites, registries, the e-government [comes], publicity. This will produce another Bulgaria in months, not years,” Plevneliev said.

In his words, it was namely the reasons mentioned that made him initiate a referendum, which to give the opportunity to Bulgarian citizens to have their say on various matters. He also expressed his gratitude to the Initiative Committee which collected some 570,000 signatures in 3 weeks: ”This has never happened in our democratic history, this means the citizens would like to be asked, to be very active, this is a [helping] hand laid, which we have to take. We have to return to the basic idea of democracy that everyone’s voice is important. When I came up with the matter of the 3 questions in the referendum, I mainly laid emphasis on the issue of electronic voting as a way to ask people’s opinion on more things in a more efficient way. I believe electronic voting should not be simply viewed as a technique and facilitation, it is an attitude towards the citizens and businesses,” the Head of State remarked.