site.btaMRF Deputies Will Not Participate in Government Talks with TISP

In a position released by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) press centre regarding the handing of the third exploratory mandate to These Is Such a People (TISP) on Monday, one of the two MRF chairs, Delyan Peevski, said that his parliamentary group will not take part in talks on the formation of a cabinet. "The MRF parliamentary group will not participate in talks on cabinet formation under the third mandate, not because we do not believe that Bulgaria needs a stable and responsible government, on the contrary – because we cannot accept the country’s valuable political time being wasted with cheap populism and clichés".

"TISP’s empty talk, which is indicative of their political weakness, and the strenuous efforts of the temporary occupant of 2 Dondukov [Blvd where the President's Administration is located] are an imitation of politics and an absence of accountability to the people. We are also adamant that we cannot work with the pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party, and this is the only non-negotiable red line for us," the position further reads.

Peevski said that given the main parties' positions, it seems like there are deliberate attempts to delay the formation of a government under the third exploratory mandate, and to conduct an unofficial election campaign, which will leave the Bulgarian people misled and deceived. He added that responsible political behaviour calls for the TISP representatives to return the mandate unfulfilled immediately so that President Rumen Radev can fulfill his obligations under the Constitution and schedule early parliamentary elections.

MPs who were expelled or left the MRF parliamentary group will join talks with TISP in an attempt to find common goals and priorities for cabinet formation, MRF expellee Timur Halilov told BTA.

In a position made public last week, the other MRF chair, Dzhevdet Chakarov, described such talks as a "conversation in which common goals and priorities for the stabilization and development of the country will be sought". He said that even though the probability of establishing a government in this Parliament under the third mandate is minimal, these discussions could be advantageous for subsequent endeavours.