DRF-MRF withdraws its support for the government (update)

A political tremor shook the ruling coalition ahead of tomorrow’s parliamentary debate on the no-confidence vote. Democracy, Rights and Freedoms - Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DRF-MRF) faction (aligned with Ahmed Dogan) has officially withdrawn its support for the cabinet. The move follows Saturday’s tensions at the Boyana residence between the Ministry of Interior and the movement’s youth organisation, but also stems from multiple policy disagreements between DRF-MRF and its partners in the ruling majority.

As a result, the government is now officially supported by only 102 MPs:

66 from GERB-UDF
19 from BSP–United Left
17 from There Is Such a People (TISP)

The voting stance of the 19 MPs from the faction around Ahmed Dogan remains undecided for Thursday’s no-confidence vote.

Two hours after the DRF-MRF parliamentary group and the party’s leadership convened at their headquarters, the announcement came: the ruling coalition has lost its fourth partner. After nearly three months in government, Dogan’s circle concluded that state institutions continue to be used for repression and that the judiciary is becoming increasingly dependent.

"Democracy, Rights and Freedoms (DRF) was invited to the governance majority as a nationally responsible party with clear objectives to ensure political stability after a long crisis and to contribute to dismantling the Peevski model, which turned institutions into an instrument for dependences, corruption and impunity. oday, for the same reasons we joined, we are leaving the coalition. Instead of dismantling that corrupt system, in recent months we are witnessing its consolidation,” said Valentin Tonchev, representative of DRF-MRF.

The party’s Central Executive Bureau reported that, despite repeated calls for tfor compliance with the joint governance agreement, their coalition partners had failed to do so.

“Unfortunately, GERB, BSP, and TISP abandoned the cordon sanitaire" (around Peevski) and are clearly serving the interests of a single individual — sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act, Delyan Peevski, who is now singlehandedly runnuing the Council of Ministers. Out of responsibility to Bulgarian citizens and our voters, we clearly state that we can no longer support a majority that keeps promoting the model of backstage dealings, corruption and institutional arbitrariness," Tomchev added.

DRF-MRF, with its 19 MPs, announced it will support selected policies and will propose a parliamentary committee to investigate Peevski.

"Tomorrow, we will propose an item to be added to the agenda of the National Assembly for the formation of an ad hoc parliamentary committee to establish all facts and circumstances concerning Delyan Peevski's role in the judicial system and trading in influence through the state budget," Tonchev pointed out.

Whether the DRF-MRF faction will join the parties backing the second no-confidence vote or not, which centres on corruption, remains unclear.

While the Central Executive Bureau was still in session, it was announced that the Supreme Court of Cassation had opened a case in response to the Sofia City Court’s refusal to remove Delyan Peevski as chairman and member of the MRF.

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DRF is the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) faction whose members remained loyal to MRF founder and former honorary chair Ahmed Dogan when the party split in 2024, with the other faction being Delyan Peevski's 'MRF - New Beginning'.