Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev and leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) said that Petkov’s resignation had been accepted and would lead to a "complete reshuffle" of the government.
Petkov is a deputy chairman of the BSP and has become one of the country's most influential politicians since the tripartite coalition government between BSP, the National Movement Simeon the Second (NDSV) and the Movement of Rights and Freedoms (MRF) was established in 2005.
Stanishev said also that Petkov’s decision to resign was "normal” and "dignified". But the opposition said the move was long overdue, since not only some of his closest aides, but Petkov himself had been exposed in meeting with persons linked to the criminal world. Petkov has claimed that his contacts with controversial “businessmen” were aimed at obtaining important information in the fight against organised crime.
But two high-profile murders took place last week in Sofia, adding to the widespread feeling that the mafia has the upper hand over the law enforcement in Bulgaria. While at first Stanishev stood beside his minister, pressure from his coalition partners and even from the ranks of the BSP for the Interior Minister to resign, became too strong.
More importantly, with the abstention of the NDSV during a non-confidence vote in Parliament on 10 April, the coalition, for the first time, felt short of the necessary majority of 121 votes. The motion, which had been introduced by the centre-right opposition, was nevertheless rejected by 117 votes, from the BSP, the MRF and two independent MPs. However, the result meant that the government survived only because not all the MPs were present at the vote.
The Bulgarian media claims that Petkov’s resignation came following pressure from Brussels and Washington. But the European Commission spokesperson Mark Gray told Euractiv today that “the Commission did not put any pressure on the Bulgarian government for removing any specific ministers”. He also said that the Commission did not have anything to add to the conclusions of its February 2008 interim report on judiciary reform in Bulgaria and fighting organized crime. The report says that in key areas such as the fight against high level corruption and organized crime, convincing results have not yet been demonstrated (EurActiv 05/02/08).
Bulgaria is under scrutiny from the European Commission over its shortcomings in law enforcement and, in theory, a “safeguard clause” on Justice and Home Affairs could be imposed on the country. However EU experts privately express doubts over the merits of such a measure, which has never been used before. At present, an EU fact-finding mission, under the Cooperation and verification mechanism, is in Bulgaria. According to Mark Gray, the main aim for the moment is to verify progress in the country's judicial sector reform rather than on organized crime or high level corruption.
Bulgarian newspapers such as “Trud” report that the next Minister of the Interior will be the current Ambassador of Bulgaria to NATO Lyubomir Ivanov. The daily “Dnevnik”writes that the “complete reshuffle”of the cabinet announced by Stanishev is also expected to involve the replacement of two more ministers – Nihat Mabil, Minister of Agriculture (MRF) and Assen Gagauzov, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works (BSP).
