“The first rays of the sun will probably shine tomorrow. Academician (Nikolay) Denkov has already announced that they have a scheduled meeting with Maria Gabriel. For me, this is a symbol of hope,” Daniel Laurer from “We continue the change” told BNT on Tuesday evening, after and earlier in the day the party reported that it expects the negotiations with GERB to be unfrozen to form a regular government with PP-DB being given a second exploratory mandate. Boyko Borisov’s party demanded changes in the composition of the draft cabinet presented by the PP-DB, and more specifically to the co-chairman of the PP Asen Vassilev as finance minister, but he is not inclined to resign. Nikolay Denkov, nominated for the second term as prime minister, did not rule out the possibility that people from GERB would also find a place in the project cabinet, but it became clear from his words that PP will insist that Vasilev occupy the key position in the future government.
“We will follow the constitutional procedure and expect the situation to thaw in the coming days”he said Lena Borislavova by PP on Tuesday morning in front of bTV, after on Saturday GERB froze the negotiations with PP-DB after the leaked recording of a PP meeting and announced that it could renew them, but under new conditions.
“Negotiations need to be unfrozen. We need a regular government. I would understand a freeze if there is a divergence of policies, but because of internal records, said after long discussions in emotional moments, it doesn’t seem like a legitimate approach to me.”she added.
On Facebook, the co-chairman of PP-DB Kiril Petkov announced that the country needs a regular and pro-European government as soon as possible.
“After what I saw at the handing over of the mandate yesterday, I decided to return to Bulgaria a day earlier than the meeting of many of the European leaders at the GLOBSEC forum in Bratislava. We clearly saw an attack on the parliamentary republic. No one can afford to calls on Bulgaria not to have a regular government, no one can put the budget and people’s money in the background because of their personal power ambitions”Petkov wrote on the occasion of the fact that a day ago the president attacked the PP-DB during the handing over of the mandate and announced that it should not be implemented.
“We will not allow Bulgaria to take a fast course towards Eurasia and lose its freedom and democracy. We need a regular and pro-European government as soon as possible. We need a stable National Assembly with a long life”also writes Kiril Petkov.
According to him, the real guarantor of democracy is the people of the square, and today they “will declare that the autocratic ambitions will not be realized, even when the offices appointed by the presidency have harnessed all their resources, but not in the protection of national security, but in the production of political compromises. We are not afraid and we will not give up“, the PP-DB co-chairman points out.
Meanwhile, from the parliamentary rostrum Daniel Laurer from the PP also called for the formation of a government.
“I want to address the voters of PP and DB – we know how difficult it is to imagine working with GERB, but Bulgaria today and tomorrow is bigger than that”Laurer said.
He also addressed the voters of Boyko Borisov’s party, saying that he knows how difficult it is for them to imagine working with their biggest political opponent, but Bulgaria today and tomorrow is bigger than that.
“I want to appeal to the voters of all the other political forces and all those Bulgarians who have not found their representation in the parliament – there must be a government of Bulgaria and it must be a government of all of us”Laurer said.
The conditions of GERB
“Conversations can only happen if format, composition, personalities, model, principles and trust are rethought. In order not to reach an ice age, which, in addition to us, will also completely freeze the country, I call on the PP and DB to reconsider all that I have listed”announced Maria Gabriel, nominated by GERB as prime minister, to journalists in the parliament.
According to her, the disappointment in society after the audio recording of the meeting of “We continue the change” is great. “The mistrust in our partners is huge. The fear in the administration is shocking. We can only get out of this crisis with efforts to build trust on the part of all participants in socio-political life. And if the real goal is to destabilize the state in order to take care of the people , then everyone has to offer a solution, a workable solution that brings unity and stability. The mandate holder is on the move to seek and find support”Gabriel added.
According to her, the talks with PP were not in an ice age, but there were no “sun rays to melt the ice”.
“In addition to everything that Maria said – mistrust between parties, lack of direction, war between institutions, I want to say something that will not be taken as an ultimatum, but as a friendly advice: change the approach. It will not happen. Take an example from us – we made all possible and impossible compromises – it will not be with the first, but with the second term, it will not be with political figures – fine. Make compromises. You cannot get all the power with 15% of the people’s representatives, as many as the MPs from the PP – it is not fair, it is not European, it is not democratic“Tomislav Donchev pointed out.
The position of PP
“We calmly waited a few days to see what GERB’s approach is. In a sense, I expected such a reaction. Conversations on such important issues should not be conducted through the media, I look forward to a conversation with Maria Gabriel“answered Nikolay Denkov from PP.
According to him, there will be talks for the second term with all parties, but “it is clear that a majority can be obtained most easily and constructively with GERB”.
A few hours later, in front of bTV, Denkov announced that it is important that the government is acceptable to both rotating prime ministers. “It is not so important who proposed one or another person and whether he was in one or another office. It is important that the person understands the work. No one should be excluded just because they are suggested by someone else. What matters is whether it can do the job. But that depends on the formula itself, but whatever decision we make, it has to be approved by our governing bodies.”he said in response to a question about whether there could be ministers proposed by GERB in the government.
However, according to him, it is important that the talks begin to be renewed, because it must be defined whether they are talking about an expert cabinet, or “we are moving towards some more balanced political cabinet, which means that they will also want other persons”.
Denkov announced that, in his opinion, there is no one better prepared for the position of finance minister than Asen Vassilev, which signaled that the PP continues to insist that he participate in the cabinet.
On Tuesday morning in front of Nova TV PP MP Andrey Gyurov pointed out that GERB should take a position on whether “they will stay in the freezer” or whether they will be part of the solution for exiting the crisis.
“We’re waiting for a call to resume these talks from where they were frozen. Because there will come a time when they will have to explain what they did when they could.”he told Nova TV and thus hinted that the PP is rather reluctant to make changes in the draft composition of its cabinet.
Gyurov also commented on President Rumen Radev, who sharpened the tone when handing over the second mandate and even asked that it not be implemented. “Mr. Radev lost his image as a unifier and leader of the nation. He allowed himself at one point to bring in personal interest. Until now, we have always said that the actions of the president show that he does not want to have a regular government.” Gyurov said.
The deputy expressed doubts about the legality of the head of state’s words that the formation of a cabinet with a PP-DB mandate would be inexpedient. “The President showed everyone what his attitude is to the Constitution of the country, which suddenly made it difficult for him”. added Gyurov. According to him, there is a strengthening of the “presidential lobby” in society.
