Reactions after the tenth (almost successful) attempt to elect a Speaker of Parliament

The leaders of parliamentary forces on December 5 commented on the latest attempt to elect a Speaker of 51st Parliament.

Nataliya Kiselova of the BSP - United Left coalition and Silvi Kirilov of There Is Such a People (TISP) reached the run-off vote. Neither of them received the necessary number of votes in favour to become Parliament Speaker. For the first time, Kiselova received support from the MRF – New Beginning.

• The tenth attempt: Nataliya Kiselova remained a step away from the Speaker's seat

"They don't want a Parliament, they want to gain time. Let's have the new political project pop up and go to snap elections," MRF - New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski said.

Asked why his party had supported Nataliya Kiselova at the last minute, he said his party group voted in favour of Kiselova to unblock Parliament’s work and so that the Bulgarians would not have to watch this embarrassment. Tomorrow is for tomorrow," he said.

According to Stanislav Balabanov of There is Such a People (TISP), today it became clear "who is Peevski's candidate":

"Her name is Nataliya Kiselova. Today all these suspicions were confirmed. Peevski voted for Kiselova and thus We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (WCC-DB) saw that there was no one else to sign their declaration for a sanitary cordon (around Peevski and his MRF - New Beginning). The only independent candidate is Silvi Kirilov (of TISP). TISP’s nomination continues to be the only way out of the political situation. Unfortunately, the long arm of the MRF has embraced the BSP."

The leader of "Vazrazhdane" (Revivial), Kostadin Kostadinov, commented that the sanitary cordon is formed around We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria.

"There are two conclusions: there is a sanitary cordon around WCC-DB, and the second - there is already a new political formation - "BSP - New Beginning". I do not know what explanation they will give, but it is obvious that it is very obligatory to explain immediately and it cannot be argued. Dependencies have become visible which, if we were in the status quo, would not be visible. An awful lot of masks have fallen and continue to fall."

GERB leader Boyko Borissov said he would hold a series of talks after which he might "rethink the tactics" for tomorrow's vote.

"We held talks with the BSP, there were Kiselova, Gutsanov and Zafirov, we supported them at the vote. There were no other talks about a majority. It was a big surprise for me because "MRF - New Beginning" did not vote until now and maybe the fact that Rumen Hristov did not vote is good Today we are going to talk to the group, as well as to the party, because standing like this as the largest party and everybody comes to the rostrum, they say - well, the largest party is responsible, it is responsible, but nobody from GERB is a Speaker, or prime minister or whatever. I will look for my colleagues from DB to see what they think about this, if such a majority is voted for tomorrow. I will talk to the BSP again to see if they have had similar discussions about another majority outside us. I know from them that they have had discussions with the WCC-DB and with the ARF and they have agreements with them on declarations, on changes and so on. What I have said to the BSP is that, just as I have unconditionally supported them, I insist that they all be unconditionally supported by the WCC-DB colleagues and that we have a Speaker elected today. Today's situation will make me rethink my tactics about tomorrow.

- What is the winning tactic?

Still to make a governing majority. All that is happening in Parliament is each party looking for some advantage, that's all they care about, and no one is talking about government, nor about governance, which is the most important role of the elections," Borissov said.

He stressed that he did not know about the support of "MRF- New Beginnings" (for Kiselova), nor was he told by the BSP that they were counting on it.

The ARF commented that there should be a Speaker elected and a regular government.

"Today we all saw how the voting went. It is the general opinion that the masks have come off. We saw how they positioned themselves and the configuration of the re-vote. Unfortunately, the BSP chose dependencies instead of statehood," said Javdet Chakarov from ARF. We would support a Speaker of the National Assembly and a ruling majority so that it is not linked to the Peevski model. We are for the statehood and restoration of democracy in the country",

Chakarov commented that everyone should make an effort to elect a Speaker of Parliament.

BSP chairman Atanas Zafirov said his party had not sought support from New Beginning for Kiselova and commented that the actions of Peevski's party had "blown up the negotiations".

Zafirov explained what negotiations the BSP had this morning:

"Today we held a meeting with WCC-DB, at which we were given a condition to support the sanitary cordon. We declared our clear intention to support it despite the justified remarks we have regarding some of the texts. We collected the signatures from the group and we were prepared to support the declaration. We have informed WCC-DB that we will talk to GERB as the first political force and we will inform them of this condition."

However, at the meeting with GERB, the first political force said that "they needed some time to reflect on the conversation and also raise issues for consideration". No such time was given because of the second round of voting, Zafirov said.

"We witnessed a visible fear that a Speakervcould be elected today and a visible blowing up of the negotiations. What the MRF-New Beginning did today was to blow up the negotiations and make it almost impossible for them to continue."

BSP did not hold talks with GERB for a governing majority, Atanas Zafirov said.

An explanation for this meeting was also given by the WCC-DB. According to them, the conversation was initiated by the Left as they were asked for support for Kiselova for the post of Speaker of Parliament. The WCC-DB in turn asked for support for the declaration of a sanitary cordon around Peevski.

"After brief negotiations, the BSP colleagues said that they agreed in principle, but they should ask GERB. In this case, the BSP in the chamber called us that they did not have permission and could not sign the declaration. They said they should meet with GERB if they are willing to support them if BSP sign the declaration," said Ivaylo Mirchev from DB.

Mirchev's words made it clear that the WCC-DB did not understand that their BSP colleagues had signed the declaration on the sanitary cordon.

MECh leader, Radostin Vassilev, commented on today's sitting in the National Assembly with a letter to the media.

"Also today, Peevski showed GERB and BSP who runs the show. The Borisov-Peevski model is inextricably linked and the BSP are currently their servants. Kiselova was finished with politics before it even began. Any attempt by Borissov to distance himself from Peevski will be severely punished by the "MRF - New Beginning"," the position of MECh reads.

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