site.btaUPDATED GERB Leader Borissov Skeptical about Forming Government, Mentions Minority Cabinet as Option

At the start of President Rumen Radev's consultations with the parliamentary forces on Monday, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said there seemed to be no way to form a government. For his part, Radev said one of the main questions after the June 9 snap elections is why large numbers of Bulgarians did not go to the polls.

Borissov did mention, however, a minority government as an option. "We bear our responsibility and we will propose a government, after talking to the other colleagues, and it will be a minority government," he said adding that it can only happen on the first, GERB's, mandate.

Radev started meeting with the parliamentary groups in the 50th National Assembly as a step towards the formation of a regular government. On Monday, he is scheduled to 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.

Borissov said: "GERB supporters do not want GERB to win the elections, but to get [CC-DB's] Nikolay Denkov, GERB to win and then get a cabinet of experts, GERB to bear responsibility and someone else to represent us. We cannot have the second or third smallest groups name the experts." He was referring to the Nikolay Denkov cabinet formed after the elections in April 2023 when GERB won the largest number of seats.

He reiterated his view that the only option to have a regular government is with the first, GERB's, mandate.

"This cannot happen with the second or third mandate, it does not make sense, nor can we explain it to our supporters," Borissov added. He cited There Is Such a People, the second smallest group with 16 MPs, as saying that they should get the third mandate to form a government of experts. GERB's leader said this means having new elections, but added that GERB would make further efforts.

The first two mandates are bound to go to the two largest groups in Parliament, GERB-UDF and MRF. Under the Constitution, if they fail to form a government, the President mandates a third parliamentary group at his discretion. If it fails too, a caretaker government is appointed and parliamentary elections are scheduled within two months.

Borissov said it would have been better if all parties had agreed to compromise and work towards a government with a full four-year term.

At 34%, low voter turnout is a cause for concern for all, Borisov said. GERB has an over 11% lead on its immediate rival, CC-DB, the problem is that under this electoral system, seats won by the larger parties go to the smaller ones and that parties get bogged down in campaign rhetoric. All players seem to be acting as if it is elections and not the formation of a government that is the number one task, he said.

It also transpired on Monday that Borissov does not plan to be Prime Minister. He told reporters after the meeting that a fourth term as government leader would be "too much" for him and he would propose somebody else in GERB for for Prime Minister and accompany him when the time comes to accept the government mandate from the President.

Borissov is also skeptical about the idea for a government on the mandate of There Is Such a People (TISP), the second smallest party in Parliament, which hopes to get the third mandate. He said, "When TISP was the leading political force [after elections on July 11, 2021], they failed to form a cabinet. Now they are the second smallest and they want to dominate the government! I think all of us need to calm down and take a week or two to think things over. Elections are a bad decision. All of us need to take a step back and think carefully if we want to have a government."

He also said that "the last chance for accord would for GERB to get some kind of support from CC-DB, if CC-DB returns the gesture". 

In May 2023, GERB agreed to take a step back and decline the mandate to form a government, and accepted the formation of a rotational Cabinet dominated by CC-DB.

"The election are over but everybody is still campaigning and no one cares about the stability of Bulgaria. This country has not become a net donor in the EU and we give more money than we take as a result of three years of failed absorption of EU funding," said Borissov.