November 21 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's parliament accepted on Wednesday the resignation of deputy prime minister Valeri Simeonov and endorsed the proposal to replace him by Mariyana Nikolova, Simeonov's chief of staff.
The decision proposed by deputy prime minister Krasimir Karakachanov was adopted in a 116-62 vote with no abstentions, the parliament said in a statement.
Simeonov submitted his resignation on Friday, saying an ongoing public campaign against him jeopardised the stability of the coalition government. He is leader of NFSB, one of three parties forming the nationalist alliance United Patriots, the junior partner of GERB party in the coalition government led by Boyko Borissov. In his capacity of deputy prime minister Simenov was in charge of economic and demographic policy.
For nearly a month the parents of children with disabilities have been protesting daily in front of the government building in Sofia with demands that Simeonov step down after he described them as "screaming women with supposedly sick children". His words infuriated mothers of children with disabilities, who have been pressing for changes to several laws providing support for the integration of their children.
The two biggest opposition parties - the Socialists and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms - have threatened to boycott the parliamentary sessions if Simeonov does not resign.
"The reasons for my resignation are the ongoing media campaign against me [...] which no longer focuses on me in my capacity as deputy prime minister but on MPs of the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB)," Simeonov told a press briefing on Friday.
GERB party holds 95 of 240 seats in parliament, the Bulgarian Socialist Party has 80, United Patriots control 27, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms has 25, and Volya party holds 11.