Public Lecture on the Parliamentary Democracy for Good Public Governance Was Held at the UNWE

The UNWE Public Administration Department at Management and Administration Faculty organized a public lecture on the Parliamentary Democracy for Good Public Governance with lecturer Pavela Mitova, Member of Parliament in the 49th National Assembly, holder of degree in Political Science and International Relations from the Catholic University of Milan in Italy, and Master's degree in International Security from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, twice elected as Member of Parliament.

Chief Assist. Dr. Vladimir Valkov from the Public Administration Department explained that the students in the hall are not only from speciality Public Administration, but also students from speciality Media and Journalism and speciality Media Economics as the topic is interesting and useful for all these specialties. "Our concept in organizing these public lectures is to invite highly qualified professionals, representatives of all three authorities, people from various state and municipal institutions and from different political formations. We strive to enrich the education of our students as much as possible by bringing them together with experienced people such as deputies, ministers, mayors and experts from different structures", said Dr. Valkov.

Pavela Mitova began her lecture with an introduction to the basic concept of democracy - the power of the people, which is exercised through referendums and elections, and explained the types of forms of government. She spoke in details about the structure of the modern Bulgarian parliament, which consists of 240 deputies elected for 4 years, who form parliamentary groups, committees and parliamentary delegations. She went into the essential content of the National Assembly's rules of procedure, as well as the National Assembly's control function over the executive, which is exercised during the parliamentary scrutiny and the hearings of ministers. He explained which laws are prepared, examined and passed by the committee, how they are discussed and voted on.

"Every Member of Parliament is a representative of all citizens of Bulgaria, not just their constituents", emphasized Mrs. Mitova.

After the lecture, a game was organized for all participants - the Parliament Game - in which 56 students were divided into parliamentary groups and each group elected its own president. Mrs. Pavela Mitova provided them a draft law and a draft decision which the students as deputies had to read and discuss in the group, while the chairman had to express the general opinion on the respective texts. A lively discussion took place before the vote.

"No real texts such as a draft law or a draft decision related to current reality were commented on but exemplary cases were provided", said Chief Assist. Valkov. "The purpose of this game was to get the students acquainted with the basic functions and activities of the National Assembly but also to gain experience in a public debate. It was quite difficult for them, they had problems understanding the texts, but they got an idea of what it means to search for arguments and defend a thesis", added the lecturer.