site.btaUPDATED Parliament Votes 66-61 to Back Cabinet; GERB and MRF Leave Chamber before Vote; Vote to Be Retaken

Parliament Thursday voted 66-61 to back the government of Nikolay Denkov. The MPs of GERB-UDF and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms left the chamber before the no-confidence motion was put to the vote after which the Parliament Chair granted the Socialists' request for a re-vote.

The motion for a no-confidence in the government over its policy in defence and national security was submitted on November 8 by the BSP for Bulgaria, Vazrazhdane and There Is Such a People (TISP) parliamentary groups and was debated on November 15. 

According to Parliament's rules of procedure, a draft decision for a no-confidence vote is considered adopted when more than half of the 240 MPs vote.

It was the second no-confidence motion against the Denkov Cabinet. The first was over its energy policy, was tabled by same three groups plus independent MP Radostin Vasilev, and was rejected on October 13.

Parliament failed to re-vote the motion for a vote of no confidence. After a recess and the resumption of the sitting, 63 MPs registered their attendance.

National Assembly Chair Rosen Zhelyazkov adjourned the sitting due to a lack of quorum.

Earlier, GERB-UDF and MRF did not participate in the vote of no confidence in the Denkov cabinet because of "the failure of the Council of Ministers to act in the field of national security and defence". A total of 66 MPs voted in favour and 61 were against. Thus, in practice, the vote was rejected. 

According to the National Assembly's rules, a draft resolution on voting on a motion of no confidence in the government is considered adopted when more than half of all MPs have voted in favour of it.

BSP for Bulgaria requested a revote on the motion and a recess beforehand, but after the resumption of the sitting, no new vote was taken due to a lack of quorum.