PARTICIPATIVE DEMOCRACY IN BULGARIA

1. PARTICIPATIVE DEMOCRACY IN BULGARIA

2. Introduction • Institutional and historical background • Fall of the communist regime • 1991: a new Constitution • Political context • EU-membership • Socio-economic situation Where is the participative democracy in Bulgaria up to?

3. STRUCTURE I – In theory A) legal context : Legal and constitutional means B) Various existing instruments 1) Referendum 2) General assembly of citizens 3) Petition 4) Public debates 5) Mediators of the Republic 6) Youth Council 7) Information for citizens II – In practice A) The social and economic context makes it difficult for citizens to participate B) Two examples of enacted local participative democracy 1) City of Harmanli 2) City of Elena 3) Comparing the results from the cities of Harmanli and Elena

4. I – In theory A – The legal context • Constitutional means : Para.1, Art. 2 of The Bulgarian Constitution : “The Republic of Bulgaria shall be an unitary State with local self-government. No autonomous territorial formations shall be allowed to exist therein.” • Art. 136 : “Citizens shall participate in the government of the municipality both through their elected bodies of self-government and directly, through a referendum or a general assembly of the citizens. The limits of a municipality shall be established following a referendum in the local community.” - Art. 42 :“Every citizen abovethe age of 18, with the exception of those placed under judicial empeachment or serving a prison sentence, shall be free to elect central and local authorities and vote at referendums. The organization and process for holding elections and referendums shall be established by law.”  Legislative means • Local Self-Government and Local Administration Act, 17 September 1991 • Spatial Planning Act, 1995 • Public Consultation Act, 1996

5. B – Various existing instruments 1° / Referendum

6. I – B • 2° / General assemblies of the populace • They aim at gathering the local citizens in order to dialogue directly with the local council, • Decision-making authorities, through an absolute majority that is validated when at least I/3 of the local voters have turn out and give their opinion, • Often held about matters relating to town planning, community facilities, security and the protection of local agricultural land and forests. • 3°/ “Private member” Petition • Each citizen can issue a petition in order to submit proposals to the community • If at least ¼ of the local citizens have sign the petition the local council must discuss the proposal and makes a decision.

7. I – B • 4° / Public debates • They are organised by the local self-governmental body, • The local community is consulted about local projects through debate or discussion, so that people can give their opinion, • It is mandatory to publicly announce the opening of the debate. • 5°/ Mediators of the Bulgarian Republic • Mediation Act (23rd May 2003, Art. 19): Mediators or ombudsmen or “the Protectors of citizens”; • Their role is to “receive and consider complaints and alerts regarding violations of rights and freedoms by central and local authorities and their administration, as well as by persons commissioned to provide public services.” • They can: resolve conflicts between governmental bodies and citizens propose reforms to the Parliament • inform the population about bills and political procedures

8. I – B • 6° / Youth Councils • In the view of developing policies for the youth, together with the National Agency of Youth and Sports and the National Youth Council (still underway) • Objective: to set up youth centres in the biggest cities where youngsters and children can meet and gather information. • 7°/ Information for the citizens • The meetings of all decision-making bodies are open to both the public and the press ; • At local level, records of these meetings can be consulted by the public on request ; • Abstracts of decisions that are made by the executive body are posted in public or sometimes published in the media.

9. II – In practice A – The social and economic context makes it difficult for citizens to participate • Strong political tensions between the left-wing supporters (the ex-communists) and the right-wing anticommunists; • High crime rate (drug-dealing, prostitution): Corruption at all levels, votes are bought at local elections; • Objectives as determined by the European commission : • - to amend the Constitution • - to reform the judicial machinery • - to create a Judicial Supreme Council • Observers find obvious improvements though still insufficient. • Citizens mistrust their local authorities : • 83% think the majority of politicians are incompetent • 70% mistrust the judicial machinery • Greater confidence in the European Union and NGOs (56%) • Participative democracy as weapon against corruption

10. B – Two case studies: a comparative study of Harmanli and Elena, two Bulgarian cities • Two cities that have participated in the same programme supported by the Council of Europe • With very different results 1°/ Harmanli : South-East of the country, 22000 inhabitants Increasing unemployment, aging population  Municipal elections in 2001 • Improvement scheme: - Assistance to people to set up of a company and to be employable - Local attractiveness for external investors - Municipal teams have been founded • 2 main lines for local democracy: • - Information: accessibility, conviviality, transparency, campaigns are advertised in the media and • - Mobilisation of the youth: Youth Forum, training, Parliament of the Youth. What the mayor changed didn’t have any influence on how the programme took place OBJECTIVES: realistic projects, transparency and involvement of all the citizens

11. II – B : Two case-studies 2°/ Harmanli : North-East of Sofia, semi-mountainous region, 7400 inhabitants • 35% unemployment, closing down factories, focus on tourism and specialised agriculture (herbal tea, champignons)  The project came into being after the 1999 elections won by the United Democratic Forces • 3 main lines: - to create participative instruments: consultative councils for citizens, round-table debates, - to improve central government’ s efficiency and bulk of information - to make the youth actively participate : training, youth centres, a “local government day of the youth” • The Socialists come back to power in 2003: • Power with a strong leadership • Focus on provision of new jobs, health and infrastructure • Participative means are maintained but do not make the priority and so less subsidised than before

12. II – B 3°/ Comparing the results Same programme, same difficulties at the beginning but different results : contribution of the local councillors and information and involvement of the local community are important

13. Conclusion • The wish to be part of the European Union urged Bulgaria to quickly adjust its political system to those of the other EUcountries, especially in terms of local participative democracy • Nevertheless Bulgarian citizens can benefit from a large number of various participative instruments • It is not enough that these instruments exist, maintenance is required • Will and involvements of the local councillors and all those who want to participate are essential • Fighting against corruption remains as the major issue