site.btaVazrazhdane Leader: No Matter Who Receives Third Cabinet-forming Mandate, Key Is in CC-DB's Hands

Speaking to reporters in Parliament on Thursday, Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov said that regardless of who will receive the third government-forming mandate, "the key is in the hands of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB)".

In his words, the second mandate will fail because no one will back "a government led by a disintegrating political force" with "unclear" leadership. Kostadinov was referring to the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), who are bound by the Constitution to receive the second mandate as the second largest party in the 50th National Assembly.

Nominally, MRF has two chairpersons, Delyan Peevski and Dzhevdet Chakarov. However, Ahmed Dogan, the party’s Honorary Chair, has long been considered the leading figure in MRF. That notion was challenged on Wednesday, when it transpired that Dogan had advised his party's parliamentary group not to support the GERB-UDF cabinet proposal, yet 30 of the 45 MRF MPs voted in favour of Rosen Zhelyazkov's nomination for prime minister.

The Vazrazhdane leader said that five of the political forces in Parliament - Vazrazhdane, CC-DB, There Is Such a People, BSP for Bulgaria, and Velichie - have been adamant during the election campaign that GERB and MRF should not be allowed back in power. "This serves as a good enough basis for forming a majority, even if only temporarily," Kostadinov said.

"We have no problem overcoming our disagreements with the rest of the political parties in Parliament, including CC-DB, on the basis of the fundamental democratic principle – people’s power expressed through referendums," Kostadinov said.

If CC-DB refuse to participate in a configuration with the other political forces, that would imply that a government must be formed either with GERB or with MRF, the Vazrazhdane leader added.