Bulgaria’s parliament failed to open its extraordinary sitting on 28 October after lawmakers did not establish a quorum. The first registration recorded 112 members, below the 121 required, and a second attempt after a 15-minute break also failed.
Two sets of hearings were due. One concerned the deliberate burning of Starlink communications equipment near Plana, outside Sofia, and the actions taken by the authorities. The other concerned the pardons granted to Ognyan Atanasov and Dinko Gospodinov, including questions about medical documentation and the information exchanged between institutions.
The planned Starlink hearing included Prime Minister Rumen Radev, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev and State Agency for National Security chief Plamen Tonchev. Lawmakers were seeking an account of the investigation and how the accused had been able to leave the country. Accusations in an ongoing case are not findings of guilt.
The failure to meet leaves those questions unanswered in the parliamentary chamber. It does not terminate the investigations or settle the legality of the pardons. Parliamentary scrutiny, criminal proceedings and the exercise of the pardon power have different functions and should not be conflated.
The interruption comes during the presidential election campaign, when institutional accountability is already a prominent political issue. For the public, the immediate consequence is the absence of the scheduled questioning, rather than a new determination on either case. A new sitting would still need sufficient attendance before ministers and officials could be heard.
