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Bulgarian government wins confidence vote

by Georgina Smith | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Friday, 21 January 2011 11:24 GMT

The government was seeking renewed backing for its policies on corruption and organised crime - still major issues in the EU state

   * Govt sought confidence vote to avoid opposition censure

   * Seeks renewed backing for crackdown on corruption, crime

   SOFIA, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centre-right government won a confidence vote on Thursday as a mandate for its goals of rooting out corruption and organised crime.

   Boiko Borisov's cabinet had asked for the vote to prevent a censure motion by the opposition, which has accused senior government officials of handing out political favours, and had been widely expected to win.

   Borisov's minority GERB cabinet, backed by the nationalist Attack party, won the vote with 140 lawmakers supporting the motion in the 240-strong chamber in a final vote after the leftist opposition sought a recount.

   The government, in office since July 2009, was seeking renewed backing for its policies on corruption and organised crime -- still major issues in the European Union member state -- amid a wiretapping scandal which threatened its already sagging popularity.

   "The measures that we are taking to crack down on circles which have milked the state for years are today prompting resistance and reaction against the government and the prime minister," Borisov told the parliament.

   Borisov, the head of the customs agency Vanyo Tanov and senior GERB members were drawn into a bugging scandal after taped calls were leaked to a newspaper and a political party and transcripts were published by local media.

   According to the transcripts, Borisov allegedly offered a brewery owner protection from customs checks and the opposition Socialists said it implied high-level favouritism.

   Borisov has denied any wrongdoing and said the leaked tapes were a result of his push to sever links between high-level corrupt officials and organised crime bosses in the European Union's poorest member state.

   The prosecutors' office has said the leaked tapes were altered and that the investigation would continue.

   Support for Borisov's GERB has been eroded due to unease among traditional rightist voters about the lack of progress on reforms, falling to 35 percent in an October poll from 40 percent in elections last year.

   Analysts said support for the government would have probably dropped further due to the tapes scandal and said the vote was aimed at boosting public trust and consolidating party ranks ahead of local and presidential elections in the second half of the year.

   The Balkan country is under pressure to prove to Brussels it can push ahead with reforms and put corrupt officials and organised crime bosses behind bars to ensure a steady flow of EU aid and be allowed to join the bloc's Schengen border-free zone.

   The cabinet said it needed the vote to push ahead with reforms. It also said on Thursday it planned to introduce a package of legal changes to ensure fiscal discipline and protect the country's currency peg to the euro.

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