site.btaBulgaria for Citizens Movement to Leave Governance If Presidential Pair of Reformist Bloc for November 6 Voting Performs Worse than Last Two Elections

Bulgaria for Citizens Movement to Leave Governance If Presidential Pair of Reformist Bloc for November 6 Voting Performs Worse than Last Two Elections

Sofia, October 17 (BTA) - The Bulgaria for the Citizens Movement, part of the rightist Reformist Bloc (RB) itself a partner in the ruling coalition, will leave the governance if RB's presidential pair performs considerably worse than the results attained by the RB in the last two elections, because this will be a sign of disapproval, Bulgaria for the Citizens Movement Chairperson Meglena Kuneva told a news conference on Monday.

Deputy Chairman of the formation Dimiter Tanev recalled that at the last general election the RB garnered 8.8 per cent of the votes, while RB's votes at the last local elections stood at 200,000. Tanev said that a considerably worse outcome would be 160,000 votes while 199,000 votes would not be such an outcome.

Kuneva said that a comparable or better showing of RB's pair at the November 6 presidential elections than the previous two elections will be an indication to the Bulgaria for the Citizens Movement to continue to support the incumbent government. However, the Movement will propose the signing of an annex to the coalition agreement with GERB, the main partner in the ruling coalition, which will update the joint commitments until the end of the term in office, set up working coalition formats to discuss key political questions and assume a joint commitment about unequivocal parliamentary support in respect of the resolutions adopted by these formats, Kuneva said.

If RB's performance is poorer, immediately after the elections the Bulgaria for the Citizens Movement will leave the governance and withdraw its representatives from the executive power, Kuneva said.

Bulgaria for the Citizens Movement Deputy Chairman Naiden Zelenogorski said that GERB's attempt to cause a parliamentary crisis and possible early elections will remain GERB's responsibility. He reminded that a meeting is scheduled on Tuesday of the leaderships of the parliamentary groups of GERB, the RB and the Patriotic Front, to discuss pressing amendments to the Election Code and find "the golden ratio" which would allow expatriate Bulgarians to vote, without this increasing the four per cent election threshold.

Approached by a reporter, Zelenogorski said that the Bulgaria for the Citizens Movement is getting ready for possible snap elections but noted that he is not certain that a right-of-centre government will be formed after them. Zelenogorski opined that the leftist Bulgarian Socialist Party and the centrist Movement for Rights and Freedoms may come into power.