Bulgarians are heading to another snap election – the third since April 2021, with each vote until now failing to form a viable government in a spiralling political crisis with no end in sight, EURACTIV Bulgaria reports.
On Wednesday (27 July), the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) announced it had failed to form a government following the resignation of prime minister Kiril Petkov in June 2021. This means the dissolution of parliament and another early election, likely to be scheduled for 2 October.
All options were previously exhausted according to the constitution. BSP’s was the third – and last – attempt to form a government under this parliament, formed after the November 2021 elections.
To have a viable government, Bulgaria needs a stable majority of more than 121 MPs in the 240-member national assembly. Coalition majorities following the snap elections of July 2021 and November 2021 collapsed fast, as did those after the regular elections of April 2021.
The leader of BSP, Kornelia Ninova, made great efforts to make good of the third mandate to form a government, but Slavi Trifonov, leader of the anti-establishment ‘There Is Such a People’ party, withdrew his MPs from participation in the negotiations, causing them to collapse – again.
Systemic obstacle
Trifonov’s party, compared by many to Italy’s ‘5-Stars’, was also the obstacle to forming a government after the previous elections in April and July 2021.
The former television host jumped on the occasion of a leaked recording to kill the talks on reformatting the coalition. Trifonov considered leaked comments by the leader parliamentary group of ‘Democratic Bulgaria’, Hristo Ivanov, as disrespectful to relations with coalition partners – and sank the negotiations.
The current coalition, formed after the November 2021 elections, consists of outgoing prime minister Kiril Petkov’s ‘The Change Continues’, Trifonov’s ‘There Is Such a People’, BSP and ‘Democratic Bulgaria’.
However, Petkov had to resign in June, in part due to attacks from Trifonov’s party.
Petkov’s government falls from power
A no-confidence vote led to the Bulgarian parliament overthrowing the government of Kiril Petkov, which was elected only six months ago, and Bulgarians will likely vote again in general elections in the autumn, the fourth such vote in just over …
The main opposition force is Boyko Borissov’s controversial GERB party, which has faced harsh criticism following allegations of corruption over the past 12 years of governance.
Borissov has been unaccountable for scandals under his rule thanks to the help of the prosecutor general, a political friend.
Trifonov’s decision to block Bulgaria from having a government leads the country towards a deepening of the political crisis, one from which critics say he has little to gain. According to opinion polls, Trifonov’s party has no chance to enter the next parliament.
As dictated by political procedure, at the beginning of next week president Rumen Radev will appoint his third interim government in the last 15 months.
Between snap elections in Bulgaria, the country is run by a caretaker government appointed by the President, with no parliamentary oversight.
What next?
Borissov’s GERB and Petkov’s “We Continue the Change” parties have equal support according to opinion polls. GERB relies on its strong network throughout the country and its entrenchment in local government, while Petkov’s party is founded on anti-mafia rhetoric and social programs.
Petkov’s party, however, doesn’t yet have all the formal party structures in place; the party has not yet been officially registered by the court.
In the last two months, BSP has shown a slight increase in support to about 11%, which is the same as the electorate of the mostly ethnic Turkish ‘Movement of Rights and Freedoms’ (DPS). They are followed by the pro-Russian party ‘Vazrazhdane’ and the pro-reform and pro-Western party ‘Democratic Bulgaria’, whose support ranges between 8 and 10%.
A new force with chances to enter parliament is a pro-Russian force led by Stefan Yanev, a former caretaker prime minister appointed by Radev.
However, the task of forming a government will not become any easier after this next round of elections, analysts have stated.
The country is in a difficult situation, as Russia has cut its gas supplies, while the head of the energy regulator has been ousted due to procedural irregularities in his appointment.
Protests in Sofia and other cities were ongoing on Wednesday, assumed to be organised by road construction firms close to Borissov.
[Edited by Georgi Gotev/Nathalie Weatherald]
Source: euractiv.com
