Mariya Gabriel unlikely to form government in Bulgaria

The chances of former European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel being able to form a government in Bulgaria are almost zero despite being nominated for prime minister by Boyko Borissov’s GERB party and given the mandate to form a government on Monday.

Gabriel left her post as commissioner after Borissov decided to nominate her as prime minister.

“If (the government) does not happen in the first mandate, with these requests of the other parties, it will not happen in the second,” Borisov announced on Wednesday.

Gabriel has until the end of the week to propose the composition of the cabinet, which the parliament must then vote on. She also has the right to return the unfulfilled mandate to President Rumen Radev, who must pass it to the second parliamentary force – PP-DB.

GERB won the elections in April, the fifth election in two years. Borisov’s party, however, does not have a majority for an independent cabinet and relies heavily on the second force – the pro-European coalition between the formations “Change Continues” and “Democratic Bulgaria”.

To please PP-DB, Gabriel even announced that her justice ministers will first demand the dismissal of Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev, which the PP and DB have long been insisting on, accusing him of meddling in politics and abusing his power.

PP-DB, however, remained adamant that they would not support a GERB cabinet, while the socialist party BSP seemed open to partnering with GERB.

However, Geshev took the stage and made a dramatic statement on Monday, stating that someone, who he did not name, asked for his resignation, and on behalf of Borisov, he was offered to resign. Geshev demonstratively tore his resignation, recalled how Borisov had given Putin a dog as a present, and then mentioned the “Barcelonagate” investigation.

This investigation related to alleged money laundering, in which Borisov’s name is implicated, was opened in November 2020 and is still pending. Geshev also threatened to “clean up the political trash.”

Hours after Geshev’s speech, the BSP announced it would no longer support the GERB cabinet.

On Wednesday, Borisov explained that the responsibility for asking for Geshev’s dismissal is Gabriel’s but that it enjoys the support of the entire parliamentary group.

Without PP-DB and BSP, Gabriel can only rely on the populist party ITN and the Turkish minority party DPS. Both of these parties have not directly stated that they would vote for her cabinet.

(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)