Interviewed by Nova TV on Saturday, Parliament Chairman Rosen Zhelyazkov said GERB was getting ready for the rotation in which Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel will change places in March. He said GERB would definitely not bring down the cabinet over a ministerial portfolio.
Earlier in February, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said that if Continue the Change (CC) did not want Gabriel to be concurrently prime minister and foreign minister, GERB would nominate another foreign minister. Zhelyazkov commented at the time that this was not a compromise but the only alternative to having prime minister Mariya Gabriel serve as foreign minister, too.
"This form of governance seemed so exotic at the start, CC co-leader Kiril Petkov said we would not form a coalition but would rotate because we did not trust each other," Zhelyazkov said. "It looked as if we would see a seamless rotation in the first half of March, but lately things do not seem so easy," he added, saying this was due to CC's new condition: that Nikolay Denkov combine the offices of deputy prime minister and foreign minister. CC's coalition partner Democratic Bulgaria has a rather balanced and responsible position on this, according to Zhelyazkov.
This is contrary to a written agreement, according to which Denkov is to be a post-rotation deputy prime minister and education minister, the head of Parliament said in a recent interview.
Until a few days ago, the cabinet seemed stable enough to serve out its full term, he commented on Saturday.
In the interest of stability, GERB is in favour of as few changes as possible after the rotation. Gabriel could be replaced as foreign minister by another GERB nominee only if CC express reservations about her performance as chief diplomat, which they have not done so far, said Zhelyazkov.
Asked if Continue the Change had offered GERB something in return for the foreign minister's portfolio, Zhelyazkov said CC had set just one condition: that Denkov should be foreign minister. "They are the ones setting an ultimatum, while GERB says that if early elections should be held, the best time would be along with the European Parliament elections," the Parliament leader said.
/DD/
news.modal.text
