Boyko Borissov, the leader of GERB party, which won the largest share of votes in the April 2 early general elections made the first statement to the media on April 5. After two days of silence, he announced that he would negotiate with all parliamentary groups and insist on a regular cabinet. He said anything else would put parliamentary democracy and the republic at risk.
In his first statement after the snap elections on April 2, GERB leader Boyko Borissov first addressed the leaders of the other parties and said it was no longer time to draw dividing lines because this was the time of election campaigns, and now it was time to sit down and agree on a stable regular government. He also said that the only duty of the 49th National Assembly is really to make a stable regular government which will also solve the budget problem. He said that his partners, the natural partners of GERB-UDF are all parties that support the support for Ukraine, the accession to the eurozone and to Schengen.
With the clarification that the Central Election Commission has not announced the final results of the elections, the leader of GERB suggested a possible coalition with "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria" with one goal - to form a stable regular government. He said that when the mandate is handed over he will invite all the parties entering the 49th National Assembly to talks.
"All policy talks go through a regular government. We will only talk about policies with the parties that decide to participate in a regular government - I want everyone to hear that well. We are turning to the biggest alliannce of parties because that would be the most stable - the most European, the most Atlantic, the best for the people," Borissov said.
He also added that without a regular government GERB-UDF will not support a budget in Parliament. He addressed the parties who said that local government elections were more important to them than a cabinet now.
"If local elections are important to them without a regular government, a budget in Parliament will not be supported by us. That means there will be no budget. And anybody who is ttrying to be clever, thinking that they're going to have a few months left to heckle those who are pulling the cart out of the mud in which are we're stuck, and ascribe coalitions to us, they're dooming the municipalities," he said.
"I will be an MP, I will personally lead the negotiations, of course with my colleagues, so I know who is responsible in the end."
GERB leader described his speech as a statement, reacting only to a question about whether he would support impeachmenet ing the President.
"Do you think that in this chaos, in this misunderstanding between the parties, we should hit the only institution at the moment, thanks to which, after many years of caretaker governments, the country has not collapsed. Please, if there is a regular government, President Radev will only perform his presidential functions. They are clearly described. His functions become beyond his powers only because the parties keep talking about who is nice, who is good and who is bad," he said.
"We Continue the Change" will not support a cabinet with participation of GERB
Borissov also invited President Rumen Radev to participate in the discussions on a regular cabinet with his experience of forming caretaker governments.
Images by Dessislava Kulelieva