Representatives of the leadership of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms met with a delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe which is at present in Bulgaria to monitor the electoral process ahead of the early parliamentary elections.
During the meeting, representatives of the MRF informed the international observers that the election campaign has been marked by unregulated police behaviour and unprecedented pressure on parliamentary candidates and party activists.
They noted that the current interim government is in violation of all democratic and constitutional principles which set out the parameters of the authority of the "interim government".
The unregulated police behaviour as witnessed in centres of population, the large-scale searches and seizures of cash, such as personal savings or small shop turnover, are just a part of the suppression of civil rights in democratic Bulgaria. All this is taking place under the pretext of "fighting the buying of votes". The actual aim of the campaign is to sow fear and intimidation and to deter people from voting on election day, which will lead to an automatic victory for a certain political party. The police pressure and mass searches of homes affect mainly the representatives of minority groups which support the MRF.
The MRF is reacting in order to ensure that the rights of citizens are protected. The MRF has collected over 300 complaints relating to the violation of human and civil rights, which it has referred to the Prosecutor's Office, the European Parliament and the European Commission. The MRF has further informed the PACE delegation that it has already alerted the LIBE Committee of the European Parliament, NGOs involved in the Shield for Democracy at the level of the European Union, as well as the Legal Committee of the US Congress.
The representatives of the MRF expressed confidence that despite the pressure on voters, the voters have reiterated their confidence in the MRF, and thus results of the MRF will remained unchanged.
The MRF is conducting a positive campaign, focusing on people's problems and how to resolve them. The governance programme of the MRF is aimed precisely at young people and families, their improvement of the environment and lifestyle.
The meeting was attended by the following representatives of the MRF: Chairpersons of the MRF Iskra Mihailova and Stanislav Anastassov, Hamid Hamid, Deputy Chairperson of the Parliamentary Group of the MRF-NEW BEGINNING, Atidzhe Veli, Member of Parliament, and Elena Ioncheva, Member of the European Parliament.
