Unanimously, with 216 votes in favor, the parliament accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and the government. The decision was made in the absence of GERB leader Boyko Borisov and Deputy Prime Minister Maria Gabriel, who should be the next Prime Minister according to the plan.
The government will continue to perform its duties in resignation until the election of a new one. So far, however, the negotiations between GERB and “We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria” have not started on how exactly the management formula will continue and what document will be signed for this. PP-DB calls for the talks to start as soon as possible, but according to GERB, they cannot be held while Gabriel is abroad.
Later it became clear that talks between the partners in the “assembly” are scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is unclear whether they will take place at all, after Boyko Borisov from Bucharest announced that early elections are underway and “there is no hope”.
President Rumen Radev on the other hand, he added tension by declaring that on Thursday he would announce his schedule for consultations with the parties. This is the step preceding the delivery of the first mandate to form a government. He should go to GERB. The acceleration of the procedure by the president will shorten the time for negotiations between PP-DB and GERB and calls into question the possible understanding between the partners.
“Apparently, passions are heating up. Whether the leaders of the resigned coalition parties are bluffing, whether they are playing political poker, whether they are raising the stakes for extending this joint government, whether they are mobilizing their voters for new elections, will become clear – I hope, soon. I will announce the consultation schedule tomorrow”commented Radev to bTV.
According to the script
Denkov’s resignation is part of the “gentleman’s agreement” reached 9 months ago between GERB and PP-DB, stipulating that Denkov will resign 9 months after the approval of the cabinet by the National Assembly, so that the post can be filled for the next 9 months by Gabriel from GERB.
After the resignation of the government has been voted, the president must now call the parties represented in the parliament for consultations before he starts again handing out mandates to form a government. According to the basic law, Radev must first deliver one to the largest parliamentary group, which in this case is that of GERB, which will have 7 days to release or return it. If, in the meantime, Boyko Borisov’s party and the PP-DB reach an agreement on the mechanisms of governance, it is likely that Gabriel will return the first mandate fulfilled. Even if this does not happen, however, the two formations have another opportunity to form a joint cabinet – with the second mandate, which will be handed over to the PP-DB, with a 7-day deadline again. Hypothetically, if the second mandate is also returned unfulfilled, the president must hand over a third, but to a political force of his choice. So far it has always been the BSP. After a possible failure in the third term – a date is scheduled for new parliamentary elections.
Borisov and Gabriel were absent from the plenary hall during the vote because they will participate in the congress of the European People’s Party (EPP) in Bucharest to support the nomination of Ursula von der Leyen for a second term at the head of the European Commission.
Denkov: Good promises are promises kept
In front of the deputies, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov announced that the government’s resignation is an invitation to GERB to start negotiations on the rotation.
“Good promises are promises kept. This government kept its political word and resigned in the 9th month of its administration,” he said.
According to him, in the coming days, the results of the cabinet for the past 9 months will be presented, and he listed some of the achievements of the executive power in front of the deputies.
He highlighted the positive growth of the economy by 2%, the control of inflation and the increase in wages in a number of sectors. Some of his words were greeted with derision by the deputies of GERB.
“Despite the environment of misinformation, sabotage, attacks and provocations, we are ready to move forward with the implementation of the set priorities and the management program with Prime Minister Maria Gabriel”, said Denkov, who specially thanked Gabriel, the ministers and people’s representatives who supported this government .
His speech was greeted with applause only by “We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria”. After his speech, the Prime Minister left to attend the regular meeting of the Council of Ministers.
The co-chairman of “We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria” Kiril Petkov reminded that for the first time in the history of Bulgaria a prime minister resigned voluntarily because he had promised.
“He made a promise not only to you, but also to the entire Bulgarian people. Power for us is not an end goal, power for us is a means of change. As long as this change happens, we will be here and move forward,” said Petkov .
According to him, the Bulgarian society expects the government to be pro-European and balanced, and that civil servants should not claim that only God is above them, that there should be no fear of energy dependence on Russia.
“The simplicity, the dependence on other countries, the name-calling, the brazen statements, the shows we have been watching lately are beyond the expectations of the Bulgarian people. This will marginalize you,” said Petkov, addressing “Vazrazhdane” and ITN.
During the debates, MPs from the opposition parties spoke mainly, and some of them used foul language and even made direct insults from the parliamentary rostrum. Only PP-DB responded to their accusations. In addition to GERB, DPS also kept torture.
“Acad. Denkov ruled at a time of painful social disunity in Bulgaria, and this disunity is also evident in the plenary hall. There is no political alternative because there are no political ideas”, said the co-chairman of the DB Hristo Ivanov and drew attention to the final statements of some deputies from the opposition defined them as “total lack of ideas, falling to ever lower levels of vulgarity and human misery” and “outpourings at the level of psychosomatic matter, revealing the painful sides of people’s subconscious”.
According to him, the government should be “the spearhead of an attempt to see if in this division we can seek agreement, balances, a review of the way in which power is managed and legitimized in Bulgaria”.
“Regardless of how this ends, I thank Mr. Denkov,” Ivanov also said.
According to GERB, the PP-DB rushed the resignation vote
However, during the debates, GERB remained silent, but after the vote, Borisov’s party accused PP-DB of being too hasty with their desire to have the point of resignation voted on today.
“A long time ago, we announced that on March 6 and 7 there is a congress of the European People’s Party (EPP) and our leader must be present there, as extremely important decisions are being made. Behind him is also Maria Gabriel, who is a deputy -Chairman of the EPP. Against the background of these long-announced commitments, this hasty action of colleagues from the PP and DB to resign and vote for it now and immediately arouses certain suspicions,” said the deputy-chairman of the GERB parliamentary group Temenuzhka Petkova, which announced that maybe the PP-DB want to have elections.
According to her, GERB has not yet been asked for negotiations, but the talks will not start anyway, while their main negotiator – Maria Gabriel, is abroad.
“Negotiations can start at the first possible and convenient moment, namely when the negotiation team from our side is in full composition and the colleagues from PP-DB express their readiness to start the negotiations,” added Petkova.
According to Boyko Borisov’s party, before the resignation vote, the report of what the ministers have done for the past 9 months should have been presented.
Those of the opposition
Stanislav Balabanov from ITN, in his turn, went to the podium to explain that because of the coalition with GERB and Boyko Borisov, “history will punish and forget” PP-DB. Before this government was formed, there were high expectations that GERB would form a quadruple coalition with BSP, DPS and ITN, but the assurance failed because Kornelia Ninova gave up after Ivan Geshev refused to voluntarily resign as chief prosecutor.
Now the opposition claims that the only thing the government has achieved is to “wash away the Borisov model”.
“This government was created to control the state, not for its prosperity and development. This is a complete deletion of morality in politics,” said Kornelia Ninova.
According to her, if the rotation takes place, corruption will multiply by three. The BSP is hoping for a 2-in-1 snap election along with the European vote in June.
Tsoncho Ganev from “Vazrazhdane” said that the corruption model of GERB is ruling again thanks to “We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria”.
Representatives of “Vazrazhdane” and BSP attacked Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov for his decision to leave the plenary hall to attend a meeting of the Council of Ministers. Deputy Georgi Svilenski from the BSP called on the Speaker of the Parliament Rosen Zhelyazkov to bring Denkov back to the hall to listen to what he would be uncomfortable hearing.
“Your destructive, illogical and inadequate behavior leads you to the result that you are not a management alternative and cannot form one,” said Yavor Bozhankov from PP-DB of BSP, ITN and “Vazrazhdane”.
2024-03-06 17:05:00
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