Efforts to form a government in Bulgaria end in failure

The decision of Mariya Gabriel, who was nominated for prime minister by the Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party, which has the largest group in the parliament, to withdraw from the candidacy was put to a vote for the continuation of the political process in the country. 226 of the 227 deputies participating in the vote held in the 240-member parliament supported Gabriel's withdrawal from the candidacy, while 1 deputy abstained.

Thus, efforts to form a government failed.

In a statement to the press yesterday, Gabriel said that the coalition negotiations he had been conducting in recent days on behalf of the GERB party with the Alliance for Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB), which has a group in parliament, had ended in failure. Gabriel, who withdrew his candidature for prime minister and withdrew his draft cabinet, informed the parliament in writing of his decision.

Meanwhile, the leaders of political parties outside the PP-DB alliance in the parliament declared that the attempts to form a government so far have been unproductive and that they prefer the country to go to early parliamentary elections.

Gabriel was deputy prime minister and foreign minister in the government of Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, who resigned on 6 March.

After Denkov's resignation, President Rumen Radev gave the task of forming the government to Gabriel, the prime ministerial candidate of the GERB party, which has the largest group in the parliament, on 18 March.

Constitutional process
According to the constitutional procedure, President Rumen Radev has to give the second and third largest groups in parliament the mandate to form a government before setting a new date for early elections.

Radev is expected to give the task of forming the second cabinet to PP-DB.

GERB leader Boyko Borisov stated that they will not support any other cabinet draft in the current parliamentary format. Borisov stated that his party prefers to go to early elections.

Delyan Peevski, Co-Chairman of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (HÖH) Party, which supports the Nikolay Denkov Government, in which GERB and PP-DB are coalition partners, from outside and whose members are mostly Turks and Muslims, announced that his party also wants early elections. Peevski also stated that they would not support another cabinet that could be formed in the current parliament.

If there is no fundamental change in the political arena in the country, early elections are expected to be held after the European Parliament elections on 9 June.