Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on Tuesday (24 January) said he would set 2 April as the date for the country’s fifth parliamentary election within two years after inconclusive October polls failed to produce a working government.
Radev has to dissolve the parliament after the Socialists became the third political party to refuse to form a regular government in a deadlocked parliament.
Bulgaria faces snap polls as Socialists abandon plans to form government
Bulgaria is facing new general election in the spring, the country’s fifth in two years, after the Socialists on Friday (20 January) gave up on plans to form a working government.
Bulgaria, European Union’s poorest and one of its most corrupt member states, has been rocked by political instability since anti-graft protests in 2020 demanding the resignation of the then prime minister Boyko Borissov and of the chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev.
Faced with anti-mafia protests, Bulgaria's Borissov sacks three ministers
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on Wednesday (15 July) asked his finance, economy and interior ministers to step down amid nationwide anti-corruption protests that have rocked the Balkan country for a week.
It has been governed by caretaker governments, appointed by Radev for much of the past two years in the absence of a stable elected coalition.
Radev said he would dissolve the parliament on 3 February, and expressed hope lawmakers would use the time until then to approve legislation – mainly linked to combating high-level graft – to ensure the country’s access to hefty EU aid.
“I will issue a decree to dissolve the National Assembly on 3 February and will appoint the parliamentary election on 2 April,” Radev told reporters.
“I hope that lawmakers will use the time to prove that fight against corruption… and the European integration are a genuine priority and not just an election pledge,” he said.
Radev has said earlier he would re-appoint current interim prime minister Galab Donev to lead the country until a new government is formed after the snap polls.
The prolonged political turmoil is weighing on Bulgaria’s plans to join the eurozone in 2024. The political crisis is likely to delay much needed reforms to combat high-level graft and hamper Bulgaria’s ability to use efficiently EU funds.
(Edited by Georgi Gotev)
Source: euractiv.com
