A proposal for the election of a new ombudsman in Plovdiv was not included in the agenda of the Municipal Council meeting. In the committees of the local parliament, the draft decision by Konstantin Georgiev was admitted to a session, but it was dropped at the presiding council. His proposal called for a new contest for public mediator, vacating the current incumbent and appointing a new one pending the election of an incumbent.
However, during the chairman’s council, the administration of the Municipal Council gave two legal opinions on the specific proposal. One is from the director of the legal department, Ilian Ivanov, and the other is from a private office that serves the local parliament.
It is written in them that before there is a competition for a public mediator, the one who performs the functions temporarily cannot be changed. The reason – on the one hand, this position must have “continuity”, and on the other hand, the temporary incumbent must be a candidate who meets the requirements for the incumbent.
Therefore, the lawyers believe that the proposal should be edited, dropping the part about electing a new temporary ombudsman.
It is expected that the amended proposal will be submitted at one of the next sessions, which will be for a public mediator competition.
The last attempt to elect an ombudsman was in 2021. Then there were 5 candidates, but no one gathered the necessary 34 votes – 2/3 of the composition of the Municipal Council. Savina Petkova received the most – 29 votes. In practice, currently Borislav Stamatov has been temporarily acting for the 8th year.
There remains the “temporary” ombudsman of Plovdiv, who has 0 support behind himThe municipal council again did not appoint a public mediator
