site.btaUPDATED GERB Prepares Coalition Agreement with Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria for Full Government Tenure

GERB is preparing a coalition agreement to offer to its power-sharing partner, Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) for a full government term in office, GERB leader Boyko Borissov told a news conference here Tuesday. "In the next ten days, we will draft a coalition agreement with CC-DB, which will be for a full government tenure," he said. 

This announcement comes shortly after CC-DB unveiled a draft memorandum of agreement with GERB and GERB first rejected it but then said they would consider it.

Borissov explained that the proposed agreement will cover the term in office of the government, the composition of the government, the right to veto and the review of the ministers' performance. GERB wants the number of ministers in the government to be proportional to the weight of the political parties in Parliament. Also, they continue to insist that they should control the Foreign Ministry.

They disagree on that with CC-DB.

GERB will propose to CC-DB to first start with electing members of the Committee for the Protection of Competition and the other regulators, for which 121 votes in the 240-seat Parliament are needed - and after that proceed with the regulators for which at least 160 votes are needed in the legislature.

Borissov expects that after the European People's Party congress in Bucharest next week, his party will be ready to sit down and discuss with CC-DB the government of the country for the next three years. "If we are unable to reach a coalition agreement, we will have 2-in-1 elections," the GERB leader said.

That means that Bulgarians will be voting for national parliament and European Parliament on the same day this coming summer.

Borissov also said: "With the memorandum they proposed, CC-DB said they are ready to partner 50:50 with GERB. I don't see things exactly that way. Now we will go back home, discuss who gets what minister so that people would know which is CC-DB's and which is GERB's, but through a veto and through the deputy ministers we can build a well working government."

Borissov sees the deadline for rotation two months before the European elections. "Denkov can resign whenever he decides but the decision on early elections or a government does not have to be voted right away."

Borissov believes that CC-DB have no other option "because any other government will be detrimental". He also said: "I see no option for us to work with Vazrazhdane or the Bulgarian Socialist Party."

The former Prime Minister said that he would ask to see a detailed report about what the government ministers did, where they travelled and who accompanied them, and added that there was too much international travel in this government.