site.btaTISP Believe GERB-UDF Have Key to Forming Regular Cabinet

Addressing the meeting with GERB-UDF's representatives here on Saturday, There Is Such a People (TISP) Floor Leader Toshko Yordanov said that it is up to them whether there will be snap parliamentary elections. Yordanov's party was presented the third and last exploratory government-forming mandate after the previous two failed to gather political support in Parliament. According to Yordanov, the key to having a regular cabinet lies in the largest parliamentary group, which is GERB-UDF.

"With your support, a regular government could be formed, which I am sure you know is the better option than going to yet another round of elections. Then we end up in the same situation, or even worse," Toshko Yordanov said at the start of Saturday's talks.

 "We will present to you our priorities that we consider important. I hope to hear yours, we hope for dialogue, to find common points where we have differences," he said. TISP also said that if GERB-UDF decide that forming a government is the right thing to do, the next meetings will focus on the programme and people.  

Rosen Zhelyazkov of GERB-UDF pointed out that they see the initiative for talks as a way to restore political dialogue between the parliamentary groups. He asked TISP, however, if they're holding meetings behind closed doors with the purpose to form a majority in Parliament that can replace its incumbent Chair with someone that President Rumen Radev can appoint as a future caretaker prime minister.

"I don't see any way to participate in two parallel political processes - for forming a majority for a regular government and a process for forming a majority for engineering a caretaker government," Zhelyazkov said.

"We live in a free country where everyone can meet with whomever they choose. The only talks we are having are about the implementation of the third mandate on a broad basis," replied Toshko Yordanov. He referred to the post of the leader of the formation Slavi Trifonov on the topic.