site.btaOpposition Urges Government Resignation after Failure of Bulgarian Candidate in UN Secretary General Race

Opposition Urges Government Resignation after Failure of Bulgarian Candidate in UN Secretary General Race

Sofia, October 6 (BTA) - The opposition on Thursday urged the resignation of the Bulgarian government after the vote for UN Secretary General, in which Portugal's former prime minister Antonio Guterres emerged as the next leader of the organization.
 
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, who was initially Bulgaria's candidate before the government withdrew support for her, ranked fourth with seven encourage votes, seven discourage votes and one no opinion vote. Bokova decided to remain in the race following the Bulgarian government's decision to replace
her with EU Vice President Kristalina Georgieva as the official candidate. Georgieva shared seventh place with Slovenia's former president Danilo Turk. Both of them received five encourage votes, eight discourage votes and two no opinion votes.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said he wouldn't tender his resignation, dismissing calls by the opposition. He said that such calls made no sense as all prime ministers but that of Portugal should resign in the wake of the UN vote.

Borissov said: "We knew that Mrs Bokova will be vetoed and tried with a second nominee. However, Mrs Bokova refused to withdraw from the race, thus blocking Mrs Georgieva. So in the end both were vetoed."

In a Facebook posting Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov wrote that in the past week Bulgaria had made a surprising and risky move which had been necessary to allow Eastern European countries a chance at having their own UN secretary general."We should be honest, Mrs Bokova had no chance of becoming the next UN secretary general. During last night's vote two of the permanent members of the UN Security Council vetoed  Mrs Bokova. The Bulgarian government knew that and despite our efforts we could not reverse the veto. So we made this move to give Eastern European countries their candidate who can contend with Mr
Guterres."

GERB

Speaking to journalists in Parliament, GERB floor leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov said:"In a way we are all to blame because we didn't  rally around the Bulgarian nomination." He said that during the campaign there had been inner opposition with everyone trying to criticize first Bokova's nomination and then Georgieva's.

"Let's be sensible and let's acknowledge the qualities of Bokova and Georgieva. Both are still serving in their current posts in UNESCO and the European Commission," said Tsvetanov.

According to him, the vote had been decided by the great powers and Bulgaria had wanted to take advantage when it was announced a year earlier that the next UN Secretary General should be a woman from Eastern Europe. Tsvetanov said that the decision of the opposition to move for a no-confidence vote despite
Wednesday's vote was populist.

BSP

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) demanded the resignation of  Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and the recall of Kristalina Georgieva from the European Commission, BSP leader Kornelia Ninova told a news briefing in Parliament.

She said that the vote suggested that Irina Bokova was the only Bulgarian candidate with a chance at the post. Boyko Borissov and the Bulgarian government betrayed the national interests in order to serve foreign interests, said Ninova.

By nominating Georgieva Borissov and the Bulgarian government discredited Irina Bokova on purpose and deprived Bulgaria of the chance to have its own representative at the helm of the UN. Ninova added that this had been done under outside pressure and that all explanations that Georgieva had better chances were a
lie.

Ninova said that from now on the no-confidence vote will top BSP's agenda. Of consultations with ABV, Ninova said that in this case Bulgaria and the national interests were above everything else, above party interests and conflicts on different issues. Ninova said that the BSP were ready to discuss a vote of no-confidence over the overall government's policy as the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and ABV had proposed. According to Ninova, there is enough time for a vote of  no-confidence to take place before Parliament's recess for the presidential elections.

MRF

Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) leader Mustafa Karadayi said that the government should resign after its decision to replace the Bulgarian candidate in the race for the post of UN Secretary General.

Karadayi recalled MRF's position that the government's decision to replace Bokova with Georgieva has discredited the country. Karadayi said its was important to see who was behind this replacement of the Bulgarian candidate.

ABV

ABV leader Georgi Purvanov demanded that Kristalina Georgieva be recalled from the European Commission and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov should take on the political responsibility and resign.
 "This is the dignified response in such a situation," Purvanov told a news briefing in Parliament.

He said Georgieva's ranking was humiliating for the Bulgarian nation. "Bokova has established herself as brilliant diplomat and world leader," said Purvanov.

Without the "Georgieva factor", Bokova could have been elected as UN chief, said Purvanov. According to him, Georgieva is not the candidate of Bulgaria, but of Prime Minister Borissov, Foreign Minister Mitov and probably some circles in the European People's Party.  "If Mrs Merkel has had a hand in all that happened in Bulgaria, she should apologize," said Purvanov.
 
Purvanov said that a vote of no-confidence in the government over the national interest and dignity is on the agenda though not during the election campaign.

PATRIOTIC FRONT

IMRO leader and presidential candidate Krassimir Karakachanov said that Georgieva's 'sick ambitions' and the 'spineless Bulgarian foreign policy' are the main reasons for Bokova's failed chances to head the UN.

"Bulgaria has fallen for the suggestions of German Chancellor Merkel who was working for everything else but the Bulgarian nomination. Georgieva was nominated in order to foil Bokova's nomination," said Karakachanov.
 
Karakachanov and his running mate Yavor Notev urged the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister to recall Georgieva as European Commissioner and explain to MPs what had called for 'the stupid decision' to replace Bokova as the official Bulgarian nomination.
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In a Facebook posting Georgieva wrote it had been a privilege for her to take part in the race for UN Secretary General. "I would like to thank the Bulgarian government, and the countries from Eastern Europe which supported me. Unfortunately expectations that the new secretary general will be from Eastern Europe have failed to come through," she wrote. Georgieva wishes Guterres success in his challenging job as head of the
UN.