The municipal electoral commission (OIC) in Stara Zagora prematurely terminated the mandate of Yanko Yankov – a city councilor from the local coalition “Alternative for Citizens – VMRO.” The reason is a conviction for vote buying during the local elections in 2019 for the “Alternative for Citizens” list, confirmed by the Supreme Court of Cassation.
The commission finished its meeting in five minutes, while journalists, city councilors, and citizens awaited an invitation outside the hall. The chairwoman of the OIC, Teodora Krumova, did not put it to a vote to close the meeting and thus violated the law, which states that the commission’s meetings are open to the public. Her comment was clear: “I have no intention of inviting anyone.”
The decision by the electoral commission came after the Supreme Court of Cassation sent signed and certified copies of its ruling and the conviction from the Sofia Court of Appeal to the mayor of Stara Zagora.
This occurred on the same day that “For the Truth” informed the court that at its previous meeting on May 8, the commission refused to terminate the mandate of the convicted city councilor, claiming it did not have those documents.
At the same meeting, the majority of its members voted to wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling from the session regarding the interpretation of the sentence requested by Yankov and his defense. However, the absence of that ruling today did not prevent the commission from voting to terminate the powers of the city councilor. Yankov himself stated at a press conference held hours before the OIC meeting that “For the Truth” misled the audience by writing that there was no Supreme Court meeting on May 15, as it was scheduled for May 20, and his summons from the court was for that date.
The convicted city councilor announced that he was resigning to journalists, rather than following the procedure stipulated by law. In this way, he attempted to portray his withdrawal as voluntary, citing the reasons of “preserving the dignity of Mayor Zhivko Todorov and the chairwoman of the OIC, who have been accused of covering for him.”
