site.btaContinue the Change Co-leader Kiril Petkov: Nikolay Denkov Will Have Special Status in Future Cabinet Rotations

Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Continue the Change co-leader Kiril Petkov said Nikolay Denkov would have "a special status as prime minister in future rotations of the Denkov-Gabriel cabinet". Petkov, an MP of  Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), and Hristo Ivanov, Chairman of Yes, Bulgaria, part of the Democratic Bulgaria coalition, commented on the rotation which is due to take place in March.

When the cabinet was formed in June 2023, CC-DB and GERB-UDF agreed that Nikolay Denkov of CC-DB and Mariya Gabriel of GERB-UDF would rotate as prime minister and deputy prime minister over a nine-month period, starting with Denkov. This rotation will take place together with a handover of Parliament's leadership between the two coalitions.

Asked if CC co-leader Assen Vassilev would retain the finance minister portfolio, Petkov said the CC-DB team did not set great store by positions; the point is what one does. It is not that important who is deputy prime minister or minister, he said.

Hristo Ivanov said that if the formula worked out, it was because Denkov and Gabriel had selected the ministers. "We rely on those two, let them work out their vision of the cabinet's composition, whether there will be personnel or structural changes; only then will things be politically coordinated and we will comment." He added that CC-DB would refrain from comments until all this was accomplished. "Our task is to see Bulgaria with a good government which can carry on the legislative and political programme. We believe Denkov and Gabriel should select the cabinet line-up, which we will then support and approve," Ivanov said.

Atanas Atanassov, Chairman of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, part of Democratic Bulgaria, told the media that CC-DB, followed by the majority in Parliament, would decide who will take Parliament's chairmanship after the term of GERB nominee Rosen Zhelyazkov expires. "I am ready and I believe I have qualities [for the job]," Atanassov said. He added this was a very important matter and nothing had been decided in advance.