The National Assembly received 2,098 complaints and proposals of citizens in 2008, Parliament said on Sunday.

Of them, 369 signals received responses, 402 were assigned to be checked by the appropriate competent institutions and 787 were sent for opinion or information to the standing parliamentary committees.

A total of 540, including anonymous ones, ones, on which a competent authority had already pronounced, as well as copies of complaints to other institutions, were left without any response.

Hundreds of declarations, petitions, protests and positions were received during the discussion and adoption of the Animal Protection Act, Parliament said. Bulgarian and German environmentalists had insisted on liquidation of animal euthanasia and dogs shelters and on returning homeless dogs after castration to their natural habitats. The received proposals were submitted in due time to the Agriculture and Forestry Committee and a great number of them were taken into consideration during the discussion of the bill.

Bulgarians residing abroad had sent via the Internet many letters asking for quicker legal settlement of the issue involving their health insurance contributions. This problem of many years was solved by the adoption of amendments to the Health Insurance Act, by which Bulgarians residing abroad were exempted from paying health insurance contributions under a simplified procedure.

The Condominium Act was another bill which caused a wide public discussion and for which contradictory positions and proposals were received.

A great number of objections were received via the Internet and with letters to the National Assembly regarding a bill to amend the education act in the part of dropping state requirements about command of Bulgarian language. The requirement remained in force under the pressure of the public and the support of the majority of MPs.

Many letters of parents protesting against making the age of 6 obligatory for children to start school, as well as protests by mayors, municipal councils and school boards against closing schools in small centers of population because of the optimization of the school network were received last year.

Foundations of parents and non-governmental organizations had insisted on amendment of legislation in the field of child protection. In this regards, the National Assembly adopted a Declaration Devoted to Bulgarian Children.

In view of the upcoming parliamentary elections, many citizens and non-governmental organizations insist on the development and adoption of a new election code, on updating of vote registers and on stricter sanctions for vote-buying. MPs have already submitted to the National Assembly bills on improving election legislation, which will be a priority of Parliament's next session.

Source: BTA