site.btaGERB-UDF Coalition to Say on Friday Whether They Give Up Government-Forming Mandate

April 22 (BTA) - The Executive Committee of election winners GERB-UDF will decide on Friday whether they will return the government-forming mandate or not, ex-foreign minister Daniel Mitov, who is the coalition's nominee for prime minister, told journalists in the National Assembly after a meeting of the GERB-UDF parliamentary group on Thursday.

Mitov said: "We made a sincere attempt to bring the other parties to discuss concrete policies and possibilities for forming a cabinet which can assume the responsibility for the nation's governance in a less-than-rosy situation."

On Wednesday, GERB-UDF invited the There Is Such a People (TISP) party to consultations for putting together a government under GERB-UDF's mandate. In a written response presented to journalists by TISP Floor Leader Toshko Yordanov, the party said: "We consider GERB to be the main symbol of the status-quo, and it is out of the question to discuss any government proposed by that party."

GERB-UDF also invited Democratic Bulgaria to talks about the future government. Democratic Bulgaria, too, declined the invitation, arguing that GERB remains the main vehicle of "the flawed Borissov model of governance."

Commenting on TISP's response, Mitov said: "Refusing to engage in dialogue is not a kind of political conduct that can be maintained for a long time." RY/VE
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