Sofia, Aug. 20, (dpa/GNA) – Six weeks after early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria, a second attempt to form a government has failed, with the party of former premier Boyko Borisov returning its mandate on Friday.
As a result, there is still no regular government in sight after the July 11 polls. The interim cabinet appointed by President Rumen Radev in May remains in office.
Borisov’s GERB party is the second strongest following the elections, winning 63 of the 240 seats in parliament.
“Unfortunately, we don’t see any possibility that the second (government) mandate can be implemented,” said former foreign minister Daniel Mitov, GERB’s prime ministerial candidate.
He was alluding to the unwillingness of the parties opposed to Borisov to hold talks with GERB. The protest parties accuse GERB, which ruled from 2009 with a brief interruption until May 2021, of corrupt governance.
The strongest party – the populist ITN of entertainer Slavi Trifonov – had surprisingly withdrawn its government proposal for a minority cabinet ten days ago.
Should a third government proposal also fail, new elections will be necessary. The situation is further complicated by a presidential election in autumn.
GNA