site.btaGERB-UDF Won't Support Formation of Regular Cabinet on TISP's Mandate

The largest political force in Parliament, GERB-UDF, confirmed that they will not support the formation of a regular government on the third exploratory mandate, which President Rumen Radev handed to the There Is Such a People Party (TISP). After almost three hours of talks, the largest political force [GERB-UDF] said that this parliament is too fragmented and a possible majority would be unstable.

Denitsa Sacheva of GERB-UDF summed up the results of the talks, held on various sectoral policies.

"I will not hide that there is still a certain lack of trust between us about when we negotiate in front of cameras and when decisions are made behind the scenes. This Parliament is too fragmented. It is very unconventional in many ways, not least because there are 38 MPs who are not currently members of any political party. The 66 votes that you are counting on at this moment also include the votes of independent Members of Parliament who are not members of any parliamentary group. This creates serious risks for how stable the majority could be," Sacheva told the TISP negotiating team.

She stressed that the position of GERB-UDF from the very beginning was in favour of fulfilling the first exploratory mandate, which was presented to them as the largest force in Parliament, and the talks held now can serve as a basis for dialogue in the subsequent 51st National Assembly.

Sacheva assured that during the next parliamentary elections the formation will be reasonable and moderate. "We will not cross any borders, but we will build bridges because the next parliamentary elections should be the last early ones for the country," she said.

According to her, the current 50th National Assembly does not have the prerequisites to be sustainable.

Rosen Zhelyazkov of GERB-UDF pointed out that they see the initiative for talks as a way to restore political dialogue between the parliamentary groups. He asked TISP, however, if they're holding meetings behind closed doors with the purpose to form a majority in Parliament that can replace its incumbent Chair with someone that President Rumen Radev can appoint as a future caretaker prime minister.

"I don't see any way to participate in two parallel political processes - for forming a majority for a regular government and a process for forming a majority for engineering a caretaker government," Zhelyazkov said.

"We live in a free country where everyone can meet with whomever they choose. The only talks we are having are about the implementation of the third mandate on a broad basis," replied Toshko Yordanov. He referred to the post of the leader of the formation Slavi Trifonov on the topic.

According to TISP, GERB-UDF's decision not to support the third exploratory government-forming mandate had been made in advance. Stanislav Balabanov of TISP said that GERB leader Boyko Borissov will have to bear a heavy political responsibility and the full consequences of not supporting the mandate.

Balabanov stressed that during the talks between the negotiating teams of TISP and GERB-UDF, a full coverage was achieved on the important priorities for the country, but, in his words, "the shadow hanging over the first political force has concealed the desire for expertise".

"One particular person wants quick elections in the country and his name is [MRF co-chairman] Delyan Peevski. Based on what I observe in the public space, I ask myself if the shadow of Delyan Peevski over the leader of the first political force is too big. These are answers that the public will understand very soon", Balabanov said.