site.btaTISP Leader Trifonov: There Will Be New Elections if Anti-establishment Parties Do not Support TISP Cabinet

August 9 (BTA) - New elections will ensue unless the anti-establishment parties vote in favour of the draft cabinet proposed by There Is Such a People, the party's leader Slavi Trifonov wrote in a Facebook post on Monday. He was referring to Democratic Bulgaria and Rise Up BG! Here We Come!

He sees support for TISP's cabinet from the so-called anti-establishment parties as "more than logical". Trifonov listed the topics on which TISP and these parties are agreed: putting an end to the GERB governance model, analysing "all mistakes and thefts" and administering justice, reforming the judiciary by abolishing the specialized courts and prosecution offices, submitting the National Recovery and Resilience Plan to the European Commission as soon as possible, raising pensions, carrying out a "serious reform" in the healthcare sector, preparing the country for a possible new COVID-19 health crisis, and purchasing the necessary number of helicopters ambulances. The TISP leader also recalled the understandings reached during talks with the anti-establishment parties about agriculture, education and fiscal policy. He argued that if the anti-establishment parties do not vote in favour of TISP's government, it will be for a reason other than disagreement over some of the topics listed, and he would rather not guess what that reason might be.

As a result of such denial of support, reforms would be suspended and delayed and new parliamentary elections would follow to the relief of GERB and the establishment parties, Trifonov argued, accusing the anti-establishment parties of betrayal and warning that they will find it impossible to explain to their supporters why they were doing all this to them.

Rise Up, BG! Here We Come!

Reacting to Trifonov's post, the United People's Party (UPP), part of the Rise Up BG! Here We Come! coalition, said that their two MPs will not support TISP's proposed cabinet. The announcement came shortly before a meeting of the Rise Up BG! Parliamentary Group.

In their position, the UPP noted that the absence of an understanding with TISP does not provide any political guarantees of consistent policies that will extricate Bulgaria from the autocratic governance model. "This applies to the judicial reform and counter-corruption. The representative democracy system empowers members of parliament represent the will of their constituents, and it would therefore be unacceptable to present candidates with dubious reputation at decisive and serious times for this country," the UPP said.

Later on, Rise Up, BG! Here We Come! Floor Leader Maya Manolova said in Parliament that her parliamentary group had unanimously decided to vote against the cabinet proposed by TISP: against prime minister designate Plamen Nikolov and against the proposed structure and lineup of a Council of Ministers. Manolova commented that TISP's minister nominees were rather "a letdown" compared to the huge expectations. Part of the candidates were completely unacceptable to Rise Up!

The Floor Leader said that their decision was also prompted by TISP's unilateral declaration on their priorities which, however, is not a partner document and does not specify deadlines and commitments.

With 13 MPs, Rise Up BG! is the smallest group in the 240-seat legislature.

BSP for Bulgaria

Later on Monday, Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader said after a meeting of her party's Executive Bureau that the BSP for Bulgaria Parliamentary Group will not back the TISP draft cabinet unless one individual is dropped from it. "Without imposing ourselves and without bringing pressure, we would like TISP to reconsider its decision about Peter Iliev as candidate for deputy prime minister and interior minister," Ninova said.

The BSP finds "disturbing" Iliev's statement on Monday morning, the BSP leader explained, apparently referring to Iliev's controversial interview on NOVA television.

Nevertheless, the BSP remains committed to 57 specific policy measures formulated in a written document that they have received signed by TISP and that they have yet to sign, too. Ninova specified that this document covers all proposals made by her party, including the adjustments that the BSP National Council requested at its latest session and that were included by TISP in good faith. The BSP leader pointed out that the two parties had successfully taken the first step: having a document that states what Parliament and a future government will be doing. She recalled that TISP initially refused to hold any talks with her party, let alone sign anything in writing.

The BSP is not setting any deadlines to TISP, and the National Council will adopt a final decision on Tuesday.

Back on Saturday, the Green Movement party, which is part of the Democratic Bulgaria Alliance, said that its four MPs will vote against the TISP cabinet.

Parliament will take a vote on the cabinet proposed by TISP at a plenary sitting on Wednesday, August 11. To be approved, it must be supported by more than half of the MPs present. So far, 80 votes against have been pledged: 63 from GERB-UDF, 13 from Rise Up!, and 4 from Democratic Bulgaria. Support from BSP for Bulgaria (36 seats) is conditional, while the Movement for Rights and Freedoms have not made public their position. TISP's own 65 votes are the only certain support they can rely on for the time being. RY, RI/MY, LG
//
***

Austrian journalist Uwe Sommersguter wrote an article for Kleine Zeitung about the ambiguities in the biography of TISP's prime minister designate Plamen Nikolov and whether he really did his doctorate in Klagenfurt.

Sommersguter, who heads the Austrian newspaper's economy section, told BTA that Plamen Nikolov was not a student at the University of Klagenfurt, judging by the official information received from Dr. Annegret Landes, head of University of Klagenfurt's public relations. In a written statement, she says that no one by the name of Plamen Nikolov can be found in the University's students or alumni database. His name cannot be found in the Austrian Library Association, where all written works by students in Austria are stored.

The information that Plamen Nikolov has graduated from the University of Klagenfurt was part of his profile when he was presented as TISP's prime minister designate.

Tsvetana Delibaltova has contributed to this story from Vienna.

RY/MY

/ДЛ/