site.btaAs Expected, CC-DB Return Unfulfilled a Mandate to Try to Form a Government

President Rumen Radev Monday presented the second exploratory mandate for forming a government to representatives of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) and they returned it unfulfilled immediately.

CC-DB were expected to hand back the mandate as they have already said they would do so.

Reactions came from the three of the other parties represented in the present Parliament: Vazrazhdane, BSP for Bulgaria and the group of expelees of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). They largely reiterated what they had already said and expressed scepticism about the chances of this legislature to form a government.

Last week, CC-DB met with the President as it transpired that the second government-forming mandate would be offered to them following a split-up of the second largest group in Parliament, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. At that meeting, CC-DB asked the President to give them some time so they could try to rally support – possibly a majority in Parliament – behind a legislative agenda with a focus on combatting corruption, and then asked them to form a Cabinet. Subsequent talks with the other political forces in the legislature showed that there was no support for the CC-DB declaration and counter-corruption bills. On July 18, CC-DB Deputy Floor Leader Bozhidar Bozhanov announced in a media statement that his group is ready to accept the mandate only to return it right away.

CC-DB Floor Leader Nikolay Denkov thanked the President for giving CC-DB the opportunity to check whether they can form a stable majority in the 50th National Assembly. The answer after the talks held is that this cannot happen, Denkov added. "We will not change our approach, we will maintain those priorities that we have always put at the forefront - to create as a State a friendly environment for business and investors, to increase incomes, to reduce inequality, to have the means to provide better education and healthcare," said Denkov.

All these issues that people are concerned about will be at the centre, he went on to say. Denkov expressed regret that proved impossible in the 50th National Assembly. "We expect to get stronger public support so that at the next opportunity we can raise these issues again and they will be at the centre of the discussions in Parliament," he explained.

In their comments following the Monday development, most parties reiterated what they have already said.

Vazrazhdane said that it is impossible to form a regular government in the 50th National Assembly even in theory.  "The only thing that remains to become known is what schedule the President and the party chosen by him for the third [cabinet-forming] mandate will prefer in order to have elections in late October, and not around the start of the school year," the position reads.

Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Co-Chair Dzhevdet Chakarov sent a written position to the media expressing the party's willingness to join talks on a third mandate. "We've made our stance clear: we're prepared to engage in discussions about the potential formation of a third-mandate government, if invited. This would be a principled dialogue aimed at identifying shared objectives and priorities for the country's stabilization and development, all within Bulgaria's established Euro-Atlantic orientation. However, we will not negotiate with Vazrazhdane. Unfortunately, we think the probability of establishing a government in this Parliament under the third mandate is minimal. Nonetheless, these discussions could be advantageous for subsequent endeavours, given the similar challenges we may encounter in future snap elections, providing a valuable foundation," Chakarov said.

Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Deputy Chair Kristian Vigenin told a news briefing that they expect President Radev to hold consultations with the parliamentary forces once again before handing the third cabinet-forming mandate. "If we are handed the mandate, we have the responsibility to hold talks, to propose again our idea for the way in which a government can be formed in this Parliament," Vigenin went on to say.