President Radev to GERB-UDF: The first mandate holder is viewed with great hope for forming a government

President Rumen Radev on October 26 started consultations with the parliamentary parties before handing over the first mandate for forming a government.

The representatives of GERB-UDF, which won the largest share of votes in the October 2 snap general elections, were the first to be invited to the President’s office for talks.

"I congratulate you for the victory in the elections. I believe that you realise that this is a great responsibility because of the severe political and socio-economic crisis. The first mandate holder is looked upon with great hope of forming a government that can shoulder the responsibility. The formation of a government is important not only for our country to have a regular government, but also to guarantee the life of the 48th National Assembly, which has a huge amount of work to do," Radev said.

The President added that Parliament Speaker Vezhdi Rashidov, who determines the priority of the consideration of draft laws in the plenary chamber, is from the ranks of GERB-UDF and asked the party representatives how they see the priorities of the 48th National Assembly.

And also - what are the positions of GERB-UDF on the budget and on the provision of military aid to Ukraine, the President asked.

"A number of constitutionally appointed bodies have expired terms and are incomplete and this is a huge problem. We cannot accept the euro with a BNB governor with an expired term in office - this hinders work with international institutions," Rumen Radev further said.

The budget and the crisis

Delyan Dobrev of GERB-UDF expressed scepticism about the ability of the 48th National Assembly to elect a new BNB governor.

He presented to the head of state the anti-crisis measures proposed by the party. These include the continuation of compensation for businesses, leaving domestic consumers on the regulated electricity market for the next few years and organising a long-term tender for gas supply.

Delyan Dobrev praised the work of the caretaker government on securing gas supplies.

Provision of arms to Ukraine

Daniel Mitov called for a halt to the talk that providing Ukraine with military and technical assistance would lead us into war.

"This worries our NATO partners because these signals do not allow them to assess us as a responsible member of the Alliance," Mitov said.

The President replied that he had not sensed a hint in this direction from our NATO and EU partners at any summit and that there is no rule in the Alliance that obliges a country to provide arms to a third country.

The President called for a careful approach to the idea of providing Ukraine with old weapons and receiving new ones in return. He warned that re-equipment takes time.

The work of the 48th National Assembly

The chairwoman of the GERB-UDF group, Desislava Atanasova, said that for the political formation it was important to unblock the funds under the Recovery and Resileince Plan.

Regarding the budget, Atanasova warned that there is a risk of so-called "wedding bidding" in view of the possibility of new elections. She called for statesmanship from all parties to avoid this.

GERB-UDF welcomed the proposal submitted by the caretaker government for the acquisition of more F16 fighter jets and would strongly support the Donev cabinet in this endeavour, Atanasova further said.

She added that the GERB-UDF made every effort to have a working National Assembly.

Images by Dessislava Kulelieva