12 councilors in Blagoevgrad want to call a referendum on the assumption of long-term debt

At the end of the working day yesterday, a group of twelve municipal councilors submitted a proposal to the Municipal Council – Blagoevgrad with a request to include an extraordinary item in the agenda of the local parliament, with a request to convene a referendum, regarding the proposal of the Municipality of Blagoevgrad to assume long-term debt in the amount of BGN 14.5 million, reported a “Focus” reporter.

On his Facebook profile, municipal councilor Dimitar Urdev wrote:

“A year ago, and even today, I believe that the citizens of Blagoevgrad should have the opportunity to express their opinion on an issue so important to all of us. I hope for a wise and responsible decision from the fellow municipal councilors”.

During today’s press conference, the chairman of the Municipal Council, Radoslav Taskov, said that the submitted signature has the required number of signatures.

“I hope that the item will enter the agenda and we will essentially talk about the proposal – should such a local referendum be held, how much it will cost and when it will be held.” In the justification for the draft decision, colleagues have written two things that I want to draw attention to. The first of them is related to the amount indicated by them, namely that the implementation costs will be in the amount of BGN 20,000. This, in my opinion, is impossible and does not answer the truth. The second thing that strikes me is that with the proposal they made, they fixed a date – June 9. This, in my opinion, is also not applicable. If tomorrow the item is accepted to enter the agenda, in my opinion, a number of questions will be answered, including why there is no way the amount should be such – BGN 20 thousand, and secondly why it is impossible to hold such a referendum on the 9 June,” he added.

The chairman of the local parliament, Radoslav Taskov, explained that, in general, there are several obstacles that lead to the fact that this form of public consultation is not used by local authorities throughout the country. From his words, it became clear that the problem is related to the provisions provided for in the current Law on direct participation of citizens and consultation with them.

“Extremely difficult procedures, too expensive… this practically means that we hold local elections on the territory of the municipality. The partial local vote that we held in the Municipality of Blagoevgrad cost about BGN 780,000, as I recall. Even if we manage to reduce the sectional election commissions a little, which the law allows, in terms of numbers, the rest of the remuneration remains – for the Municipal Election Commission, for logistics, for security , for the people involved in the referendum. In my opinion, this amount cannot be less than BGN 500-600 thousand, and the amount may also come close to the means for holding a local vote. That’s why I say that the sum of BGN 20 thousand is impossible,” commented Taskov.

He drew attention to the fact that parliamentary elections are organized by the Regional Election Commission. In the case of June 9, they are involved. For local elections and referenda, there must be a Municipal Election Commission. In this regard, Taskov explained that there are legal deadlines that must be met, which is why June 9 is an unrealistic date.

“There are a number of legal deadlines – initiative committees must be created, it must be registered in a register, then within a month the Municipal Council must approve documents, issue notices. In my opinion, at best, we are talking about a few months,” he explained.

Taskov said that he is a supporter of hearing the voice of the people, but according to the current law, referendums are too cumbersome a procedure, too expensive, and for such a public consultation to be legitimate and to recognize the result of it and for it to be mandatory as a decision, those who voted must be more than 50% of the voters in the territory of Blagoevgrad Municipality.

“If not enough people have voted for it to become mandatory, then the decision will have to be made by the Municipal Council. And now the question is – why should we hold a referendum for hundreds of thousands of BGN, since in the end the local parliament will make the final decision. I hope that tomorrow there will be a constructive debate and an avoidance of populism”, stressed Radoslav Taskov.

According to him, the held public discussion clearly showed the attitude of the people regarding the proposal of the Municipality of Blagoevgrad. He added that it is understandable to be concerned when it comes to debt, but it is also important to say that these funds are extremely necessary for the Municipality of Blagoevgrad to stabilize its financial situation and, above all, to complete the projects that have been started.

“I did not hear an answer to the question – if we do not approve this proposal, do we refuse to strengthen the landslide, which threatens to close the road to Bachinovo Park and Kartala at any moment. Do we abandon the construction of Promishlena Street? This is the alternative of not taking on this debt. I say again that politics and populism have no place when local government has to decide such matters. We have to really honestly tell each other what things are and make the right decision,” Radoslav Taskov was emphatic.