PM Kiril Petkov's government toppled in parliamentary no-confidence vote

The government of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov did not survive the no-confidence vote submitted by the opposition. In a parliamentary vote on June 22, 123 MPs voted in favour, of the motion, 116 voted against, there were no abstentions.

The vote was held 24 hours after the end of a debate in the Bulgarian Parliament on June 21.

"It was an honour for me to lead a government that was overthrown by Mr Peevski, Mr Borissov (leader of opposition GERB party), Slavi Trifonov (leader of There is Such a People party, which left the ruling coalition) and Ms Mitrofanova (Russian ambasador to Bulgaria). What they did not understand is that they cannot win the Bulgarian people. We promise that we will continue in this battle to win back our country and one day we will have a Bulgaria without backstage, without mafia - a successful European country. Thank you!" said Prime Minister Kiril Petkov after the vote.

The MPs from "We Continue the Change" rose to their feet to applaud him.

After the vote, the MPs from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms walked out of the hall.

We are witnessing the first such decision in the 99th cabinet, the first time cabinet fell after a vote of no-confidence, this will remain a historic event, said Desislava Atanasova of GERB.

During her speech the entire Council of Ministers left the sitting. In her statement, Atanasova commented on the relations between Sofia and Skopje and described the French proposal as "the best thing that Kiril Petkov and his government have not done so far".

"There are better times ahead, we will be in the square together again, the change started not with the people in Parliament but with the people outside, I voted against the status quo and for the change," said Iskren Mitev from “We Continue the Change”.

In the meantime, two rallies are taking place on both sides of the building of Parliament - one in support, the other against the government.

The no-confidence motion was tabled by GERB-UDF parliamentary group a week ago over alleged failure of the government in the area of public finances and its economic policy.

Today's vote came after two weeks of political wrangling - "There is Such a People" left the ruling coalition, then exchanged a series of accusations with "We Continue the Change", a majority partner in the ruling coalition.