site.btaMovement for Rights and Freedoms Will Decline Third Cabinet-Forming Mandate, Wants Early Elections Pronto

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) will not back a second cabinet-forming mandate of Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) and will decline a third mandate if picked for it by the President, MRF Co-chair Delyan Peevski said on Sunday, quoted by his party in a press release.

He argued that a cabinet on the second mandate is impossible without GERB-UDF, and that the attempts to patch up some arithmetic majority including anti-European parties and specifically Vazrazhdane would be completely unprincipled. For a third mandate, the MRF refuses to seek a majority with anti-NATO and anti-EU parties like Vazrazhdane "with whom we are ideologically and morally incompatible," the press release reads.

Peevski's statement comes in the wake of the news that the negotiations between GERB-UDF and CC-DB have failed and prime minister-designate Mariya Gabriel will withdraw her candidacy from Parliament.

"In order to press ahead, this country needs the soonest possible holding of early parliamentary elections, after which Bulgaria should have a Euro-Atlantic majority and government," the MRF Co-chair said.

In his words, the MRF was involved in the talks on the governance agreement in the part concerning the principles of the decisions requiring a qualified majority. Peevski says that he drafted these provisions together with CC co-leader Kiril Petkov, and GERB-UDF accepted them without any objections.

The MRF Co-chair insists that Bulgaria's Euro-Atlantic position and active share in aid for Ukraine must be carried on in the next parliament, which should complete the reforms in the judicial system and counter-corruption.