site.btaMPs to Debate No Confidence Motion against Denkov Cabinet over Energy Sector Policy

At an extraordinary sitting on Thursday, the National Assembly is scheduled to hold a debate on a no confidence motion against the Government of Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov over the Cabinet's energy sector policy. The motion was tabled on October 5 by 71 MPs of Vazrazhdane, BSP for Bulgaria, and There Is Such a People (TISP) and by independent MP Radostin Vassilev.

The motion, initiated by Vazrazhdane, is prompted by the territorial just transition plans for Bulgaria's coal-producing areas, which the parliamentary opposition sees as devastating for the coal-mining industry and the coal-fired power plants. The Cabinet submitted the plans to the European Commission on September 30.

Under Parliament's rules, the vote on the motion can be held no earlier than 24 hours after the debate.

Approached for comment on the no confidence motion, political experts Strahil Deliyski and Ivan Nachev told BTA that this could be an opportunity for the opposition to offer alternatives or declare political positions. According to Deliyski, the motion was tabled because "there is still some opposition in the National Assembly". He doesn't believe that the Denkov Cabinet will  be ousted, but the debate on the motion is an opportunity for the opposition to make alternative proposals. According to Nachev, the Government's energy sector policy is not the real reason for the motion but rather an attempt by the parties behind the motion to state their political positions. The motion is an opportunity for the three opposition parties to take advantage of the ongoing protests in the country, he argued.