Rotating speaker post turns parliament into a circus

Bulgaria’s parliament installed Raya Nazaryan from GERB-SDF as its new speaker this week under an arrangement requiring leadership rotation every 10 months among governing coalition partners. Former parliamentary leader Iva Miteva criticized the practice during a television appearance, arguing that the position has lost dignity since We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria introduced rotating leadership. She traced the concept back to the 47th National Assembly and expressed frustration that officials failed to grasp basic governance principles despite similar experiments with the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Miteva noted the country has cycled through five prime ministers and will have four parliamentary speakers, sarcastically thanking direct presidential elections for preventing executive rotation. She questioned whether the Greek-inspired electoral reforms might eventually lead to rotating presidents chosen by lawmakers. Four parties currently control the government based on no-confidence vote patterns and support for Nazaryan’s election, with budget votes expected to reveal the coalition’s true makeup, she said. Miteva dismissed suggestions of splits within There Is Such a People but condemned their coalition participation as self-serving rather than public-minded. She also stated that Borislav Sarafov illegally holds the prosecutor general role.