Boyko Borissov, leader of the victorious GERB party, stated that he was ready to give up the prime minister’s seat in future government formation talks, according to Euractiv.
Borissov claims that by doing so he would compromise himself in government negotiations with the liberal coalition We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB). GERB won the snap election with 24.7 per cent of the vote and needed the support of at least two other parties to form a governing coalition. The PP-DB came second with 14.3 per cent.
With this clear and brilliant victory of GERB, parliamentarism requires that the speaker be from GERB. And if they decide to create unnecessary obstacles, we will no longer participate in talks. With no one. Because it is not fair.
The stance of Borissov and the PP-DB coalition raises the possibility that Bulgaria is heading for its eighth snap election in three and a half years, in February 2025. The PP-DB has already said it will not support the GERB candidate and may nominate its own parliamentary speaker candidate.
The liberal coalition conditioned Borissov not to have any dealings with Delyan Peevski, the leader of MRF-New Beginni, whom the PP-DB and other parties accused of dubious dependence on Peevski.
Former Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov (PP-DB) commented that there were two options for a government in Sofia: “One that works with the active participation of MRF – New Beginning or one without Peevski’s formation.”
Borissov has two obvious options for forming a government. One is a coalition between the PP-DB and the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, which represents part of the country’s Turkish minority. The other option is a government with Peevski’s group, the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the There Is Such a People party.
The prime minister told EU ambassadors in Sofia late last week that he would make all possible compromises to form a full government. European and US partners see Bulgaria as particularly unstable and vulnerable because of the severe political crisis and the war in Ukraine.
