site.btaPresident Starts Consultations with Parliamentary Forces

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev Monday starts meeting with the parliamentary groups in the 50th National Assembly as a step towards the formation of a regular government, the President's Press Secretariat said. He will meet with representatives of the three largest groups: GERB-UDF with 68 MPs, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) with 47 MPs and Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) with 38 MPs in the 240-seat Parliament.

The election of Raya Nazaryan MP of GERB-UDF as Parliament Chair on June 20, of her deputies from the seven parliamentary groups and the formation of the groups opened the way to the constitutional procedure leading to the formation of a cabinet.

GERB-UDF leader Boyko Borissov told his first news conference after the June 9 snap elections that a cabinet of shared responsibility should be formed. He said the only chance to have a government is with the first mandate and GERB-UDF must name the prime minister and the foreign and defence ministers. He is adamant that he will not form a cabinet with MRF alone.

MRF leader Delyan Peevski urged that a Euro-Atlantic government be formed. "Remember - if we fail to do this, we gift the country to Putin," he told reporters.

CC-DB are adamant that they will not negotiate on cabinet formation. They have stated they will be a strong pro-European opposition and will counter every attempt at corruption and at diverting Bulgaria from its European path.