Ombudsman Has No Place in the Executive Power, Says Velislava Delcheva After Talks with President Iliana Iotova on Appointing Cataker Government

The consultations with President Iliana Iotova for a caretaker prime minister continue. Today, January 29, the first meeting of the head of state was with the ombudsman Velislava Delcheva.

After the meeting, Delcheva told the media that the Ombudsman could not take on a role in the executive branch.

“The Ombudsman has no place in the executive. There are European and international standards which require the Ombudsman to remain independent from the executive authorities. From this moment on, I maintain my position: the Ombudsman cannot perform the duties of a caretaker prime minister,” she said.

Following the meeting with Delcheva, President Iotova is due to hold talks with her deputy, Maria Filipova.

The consultations come as part of the search for a caretaker prime minister. After yesterday’s talks, it became clear that the Deputy Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), Andrey Gyurov, is ready to serve as caretaker prime minister. Before that, the President had held talks with the BNB Governor, Dimitar Radev, and the other two Deputy Governors, Radoslav Milenkov and Petar Chobanov, who declined to take the position, citing different reasons.

On Tuesday, the Speaker of Parliament, Raya Nazaryan, also refused to take the role of caretaker Prime Minister.

The final round of consultations at the Presidency on Dondukov 2 is scheduled for tomorrow, when the President will meet with the President and Deputy President of the National Audit Office.

The date of the early parliamentary elections will depend on when the decree appointing the caretaker government is signed. Under the Constitution, the elections must be held within two months after signing of the decree.

Based on the 2023–2024 amendments to the Constitution of Bulgaria, the President must select a caretaker Prime Minister from a specific list of senior officials, often referred to as the "house book" or "limited list". As of early 2026, this list of potential candidates includes:

• Speaker of the National Assembly: Raya Nazaryan
• Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB): Dimitar Radev.
• Deputy Governors of the BNB: Petar Chobanov, Andrey Gurov, Radoslav Milenkov.
• President of the National Audit Office: Dimitar Glavchev.
• Deputy Presidents of the National Audit Office: Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva , Margarita Nikolova, Silvia Kadreva.
• Ombudsman: Velislava Delcheva
• Deputy Ombudsman: Maria Filipova.