Bulgaria’s parliament approved a cabinet headed by former speaker Rosen Zhelyazkov, ending months of negotiations to form a coalition government, according to Euractiv.
Bulgaria has held seven early elections in four years. To end the country’s political crisis, the GERB party was forced to hold tough talks with other political parties to form a government.
125 lawmakers from the 240-seat parliament approved Zhelyazkov’s proposed cabinet on Thursday, marking the beginning of a new administration.
Bulgaria needs a regular government that will implement policies supporting the democratic rule of law, the competitiveness of the economy, security, and protecting citizens’ social rights.
Besides the GERB, the coalition includes the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the There is Such a People (ITN) Party. Due to the three forces lacking the 121 deputies needed for a majority, the ethnic Ahmed Dogan’s Turkish minority party said it would support the coalition without joining it.
However, the leader of the Vazrazhdane (Revival) Party, Kostadin Kostadinov, stated that voters of the two parties that entered the coalition were deceived and they would seek an alternative in the next election.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Delyan Peevski, congratulated GERB leader Boyko Borissov for uniting “those who have denied him for years.”
