We Continue the Change (PP) has collected signatures for another extra session of parliament over the pardon of Ognyan Atanasov, known as the "Petrich Escobar". Nikolay Denkov, head of the PP group, announced this to reporters in the corridors of the National Assembly.

This follows our earlier story on a request by Democratic Bulgaria for a hearing over Atanasov's pardon. MPs then asked to hear from the Chief Directorate for the Execution of Sentences, the State Agency for National Security (DANS), the Interior Ministry and the head of the prison hospital, after a video filmed a month before the pardon came out.

They want the session next Tuesday, PP MP Stoyu Stoev said. PP, Democratic Bulgaria and GERB-SDS have signed the request. Vazrazhdane has not.

Denkov replied to comments that the move is an election stunt. Stoev added that the election is on Sunday next week. Denkov said PP will keep pushing to clear up the case after the vote too. "What we see is a systemic problem with the way pardons are granted in Bulgaria," he said.

Denkov said the findings of the medical panel, the advice of the pardons commission and the grounds for the decision are still unknown. In the group leader's words, every attempt to get this information hits a wall, and the key question is why it keeps being hidden. Details that emerged over the past week show the pardons commission worked for six months in a row without a quorum.

Stoev believes the president's office is sharing information selectively. Other MPs say they have the full documents while PP is not given them, he said. When a reply comes under the Access to Public Information Act, it should be open to everyone, Stoev said. He said voters need to know how the president's powers were used in the past, so they can make a sound choice at the election.

Boyko Rashkov, also a PP MP, commented on Iliana Yotova's remark "we will send the materials to the prosecutor's office". He said it signals that once a pre-trial case is opened, using the facts in public is limited by the ban on revealing the secrets of an investigation. But every verdict is announced in public, even if it touches state secrets or spying and the trial was held behind closed doors, Rashkov added.

Replying to an MP who had spoken about mercy, Rashkov said the president's office is not a hospital, and the president and vice president are not nurses.

Rashkov said PP has reason to doubt the medical assessment of the pardoned man's health, mentioned in an interview by Petar Vitanov. He called for the names of those who signed the conclusion to be made public.