Meetings in Parliament: Will politicians find an option for a government?

meetings parliament politicians find option government

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18:03, 05.05.2023

There will be leadership meetings in Parliament only when everyone understands and matures for the idea to support a cabinet with the first mandate - this is what GERB leader Boyko Borissov said on the sidelines in Parliament on May 5. The meetings between the first and the second political forces continued in Parliament after "We Continue the Change" - "Democratic Bulgaria" (WCC-DB) returned to the table of talks. GERB-UDF also met with “Vazrazhdane”.

In the morning, GERB leader Boyko Borissov described as a good sign the return of WCC-DB coalition to the negotiations on a governing programme. At the same time, however, Borissov said that after yesterday's talks with the other parliamentary groups, it was understood that a second government-forming mandate could not be supported. He called for the first to be supported and gave a "last chance" to WCC-DB to give up their "arrogance". Kiril Petkov of WCC commented on his words, saying that they would not give up their position of not supporting GERB in any way, but were ready to engage in talks on the governance programme and outlined the ways forward.

"It is categorically clear that with the second mandate there can be no government. The probability is zero. The illusions of WCC and DB colleagues are that it will be a failed mandate. It is a good move, it is the right move to continue the conversation with them. And here it is not important whether it is them, or whether it is us, the word is together, because only this saves Bulgaria from the catastrophe and the abyss towards which we are flying and will enter this abyss in mid-June. We have one last chance for them to give up their arrogance, their illogic, their lack of understanding that with 64 MPs seats, you cannot be given absolute power. Having said that, I am not interfering with anyone. If we don't agree on stable governance, I will put the mandate on the table and say, here are empty boxes, do we have people to fill them and get through three months together or do we not," Borissov said.

"If we leave aside the whole theatre, the first mandate is GERB's. GERB has three choices - option one with Movement for Rights and Fredoms , option two we go to elections and take the risk, the third option is very simple - support the government with the second mandate, if they have criticism, no problem, but now it's time to say which of these three real choices they can make. It's that simple. Either they say - we make a government with MRF, or we waste historical time", said Kiril Petkov of WCC.

Asked whether they would ask for the support of the MRF, Petkov said that if they had constructive ideas, they were ready to ask for it.

A little later in the plenary chamber, for the first time as an MP in the 49th National Assembly, Boyko Borissov spoke from the parliamentary rostrum. From there he urged MPs to support a cabinet with their mandate. The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) described the GERB-UDF as "charlatans who have not put anything in black and white on the table".

" I thank the caretaker ministers for coming. The information about us is shocking. We could have had ministers (from regular government) here today. We are wasting parliamentary time. I thank Demerdzhiev (caretaker Minister of Interior) that he has come to elect a cabinet and we should be responsible," Boyko Borissov said.

"Dear Mr Borissov, what you are calling for depends only on you. Clarify what are you proposing. You have wasted a month in quibbling – asked for a cabinet line-up and then you said you did not like it. You are the last person who can appeal for government. Stand up and say what you want," said Kornelia Ninova, BSP leader.

"We insist that as soon as possible committees and committee chairpersons be elected and that the National Assembly start working," Nikolai Denkov said.

The GERB-UDF meetings continued. Today they met with "Vazrazhdane" and received a clear answer - the old position of "Vazrazhdane" that they will not support any other cabinet within this Parliament, except for the one proposed by them.