site.btaUPDATED MPs to Make Fourth Attempt to Elect Parliament Chair

Members of the 51st National Assembly will make a fourth attempt to elect Parliament chair here on Wednesday.

Raya Nazaryan (GERB-UDF) and Andrey Tsekov (Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria) came to a runoff but none won the necessary number of votes to be elected.

CC co-leader Assen Vassilev said Monday that the Executive Council of CC decided to withdraw the nomination of Andrey Tsekov and to support the nomination of the oldest MP, Silvi Kirilov of There Is Such a People (TISP). CC-DB called on other political entities to withdraw their nominations as well.

GERB-UDF do not agree with having Kirilov be Parliament chair, as was Vezhdi Rashidov, the oldest MP in the 48th National Assembly, said GERB leader Boyko Borissov. "Going to Kirillov means they have agreed that he will be the next caretaker prime minister," he alleged.

GERB reported that their executive committee decided that if Nazaryan gets elected to be Parliament chair, she will not be caretaker prime minister in a potential new caretaker government. Borissov agreed that if a ruling majority is formed, the posts will be renegotiated, including that of the Chair.

TISP leader Slavi Trifonov said on his Facebook page that the most logical step would be for the National Assembly to temporarily elect the oldest MP, Kirilov, as Chair, so that the institution can start functioning. Trifonov added that Bulgarian democracy would benefit from "a caretaker cabinet led by a moral person such as Kirilov," if a stable government fails to be formed.

During the third attempt to elect a president of the National Assembly on November 15, TISP put forward Kirilov, who received 37 votes in favour, 35 against and 167 abstentions.

MECh leader Radostin Vasilev told reporters on November 15 that if no Chair gets elected, then his party will "propose a cutting-edge solution" but did not share further details. MECh MPs voted against Nazaryan and abstained for the rest of the nominations.

So far, Vazrazhdane has not confirmed whether they will once again nominate Petar Petrov. The BSP - United Left coalition has also refrained from sharing their plans on the matter.