site.btaCC-DB's Nikolay Denkov Blames GERB for "Wrong Approach" under First Mandate

GERB's approach under the first government-forming mandate was wrong because they should have started by declaring their political priorities, Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) Floor Leader Nikolay Denkov told Nova TV on Sunday. Denkov said he hopes that new snap elections can be avoided, although he does not see how.

Commenting on the CC-DB declaration which proposed two months of legislative work in the National Assembly before coming to talks for a new government, Denkov was adamant that the declaration had the potential to unite, not to divide.

The ex-prime minister sees no differences between the coalition partners CC and DB. He noted, however, that CC said at the very beginning that they did not expect the second government-forming mandate to be fulfilled, because the present National Assembly does not have a majority to implement the necessary reforms.

During the talks, There Is Such a People (TISP) tried to instigate a row between CC and DB, Denkov said. He is very skeptical that TISP leader Slavi Trifonov can unite the parties in the current National Assembly even if he receives the third mandate to put together a government.

Denkov also commented on developments in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). "No one expected MRF to split like that. There were signs, though," he noted. His contacts with Delyan Peevski, who has been in conflict with MRF Honorary Chair Ahmed Dogan, left him (Denkov) with the impression that Peevski was trying to be "the overlord of the nation". It is something that has startled everyone, he said.

Each parliamentary party had its own reasons to oppose the CC-DB declaration. GERB doubted that the proposed changes could be implemented in three months; common ground with Vazrazhdane was unavailable; and the Bulgarian Socialist Party stated they would not back the second mandate (which went to CC-DB after the rift in MRF) but were willing to discuss anti-corruption laws, Denkov recalled.