BULGARIA’S PRESIDENT PLEVNELIEV WILL NOT APPOINT AN INTERIM GOVERNMENT

Bulgaria’s President Rossen Plevneliev said on 21st of December that he would not appoint a caretaker government and would leave this to his successor, Roumen Radev.

“I did my best to avoid early parliamentary elections and until the last minute I hoped that the parties represented in Parliament would come up with a sustainable formula for forming a cabinet,” he said in an announcement for the media after the Reformist Bloc returned the third and final exploratory mandate to try to form a government within the current Parliament.

He said that it was not as if he could not appoint a caretaker government – “I have experience”, said Plevneliev, who twice before in his term of office has had to name a caretaker government.

"It is best to have a smooth transition from one regular government to a caretaker government and to a new regular government. Such is the spirit of the Constitution, this is a reasonable action, it is the European approach," he said.

“Led by the clear desire to ensure institutional stability and continuity in the state, I will not appoint a third caretaker government, “ the President added.

He said he saw no point of having two caretaker governments in less than a month. “This would be a sign of disunity," Pleveneliev noted.

"I choose the European and civilized decision to concede the right to the President-elect Radev to appoint an interim government," he said. "This is the best way to guarantee institutional stability."