site.bta Patriotic Front Co-chair Karakachanov Sees Mistake in Tying Presidential Election Results with Cabinet's Resignation

Patriotic Front Co-chair Karakachanov Sees Mistake in Tying Presidential Election Results with Cabinet's Resignation

Sofia, November 15 (BTA) - Co-leader of the nationalist Patriotic Front and unsuccessful presidential candidate Krassimir Karakachanov told bTV on Tuesday that Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's decision to tie the presidential election results to the Government's resignation was a mistake.

"It is not right for everyone to attack Boyko Borissov after he has tendered his resignation," Karakachanov said.

There is no new majority in Parliament and such cannot be achieved because the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms do not have enough MPs for that, he said, adding that there is no way Parliament will not accept Borissov's resignation.

The 2017 State Budget Bill should not be withdrawn from Parliament, he said, adding that the Patriotic Front insists on allocating 830-840 million leva for raising the minimum pension. Karakachanov asked if it is normal for over 1.3 million Bulgarian pensioners to bring home less than 200 leva, given that the poverty threshold is set at 299 leva.

He noted that if President Plevneliev handed the Patriotic Front the mandate to form a government, they would return it.

According to him, it was not BSP that won the presidential elections, but Rumen Radev himself as a candidate. Many people wanted one of the branches of government to finally fall into other hands, he said, adding that it would be naive for the Socialists to get too excited about the election results, because they would not win such support in parliamentary elections.