site.btaPresident Radev: Current Government Is Morally Finished, Should be Formally Finished As Soon As Possible

Sofia, September 1 (BTA) - President Rumen Radev Tuesday said
that "the current government is morally finished and it is of
utmost importance that it is finished formally as well, as soon
as possible". "Anything else is agony and wasting of precisions
historical time, which fires up people's anger even more," the
President told reporters.

Anti-government protests demanding the resignation of Prime
Minister Boyko Borissov and Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev have
been going on for close to two months now. A big rally is being
prepared for Tuesday, when Parliament opens its new session
after the summer break.

Radev said further that when the government's resignation is a
fact, the most important thing is that the incumbents and the
MPs don't vote to form an interim cabinet. "People have been
protesting demanding the resignation of the government in order
to put an end to the Borissov regime. Having such an expert
cabinet will cement the current regime and will be nothing short
 of its puppet," Radev said.

According to the current Constitution, when a government
resigns, the resignation needs to be supported by two-thirds of
the MPs in Parliament, after which the President offers a
mandate to the biggest group to form a new government. If they
fail or decline to do so, a mandate is offered to the second
biggest group and then to one more, and then, if all mandates
fail, Parliament is disbanded and the President appoints a
caretaker government to prepare general elections within two
months from the disbanding of the previous legislature. 

President Radev further said that a new GERB government will be
a betrayal of the expectations of Bulgarian people, which should
 not be allowed to happen because then the Borissov regime will
be organizing the elections and the Prime Minister "will make
sure he stays in power for life".

"By the constitution, the MPs express the will of the people and
 need to respect this will, which is clear: immediate
resignations, caretaker cabinet, fair elections and new trust,"
Radev said.

He then spoke of "unprecedented consolidation of expatriate
Bulgarians", who have been holding anti-government rallies in
many cities abroad. According to Radev, these ongoing rallies
are people's real vote of no confidence in the present
government.

Referencing GERB's plan to change the Constitution, Radev said
that it is wrong for a failed government to start any
constitutional debate whatsoever, to continue to run this
country and determine its future. "It is cynical for a
government that has trampled the Constitution, to propose
revisions," the President said, recalling that his team has
already drafted its own proposals for constitutional amendments.
 

Radev, who is also Supreme Commander-in-Chief, was speaking to
the press during a visit the G. S. Rakovsky Military Academy in
Sofia for the start to the new academic year. NV/ZH