site.btaUPDATED Socialist Party Says All Who Have Refused to Become Caretaker PM, Should Reconsider

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) called on all who have refused to become caretaker Prime Minister, to reconsider their position. "BSP urges those in the pool, who have refused to become caretaker Prime Minister, to reconsider their stance," said BSP acting chair Atanas Zafirov Monday in a comment of the failed formation of a caretaker cabinet.

That individuals eligible to become caretaker Prime Minister was narrowed to a pool of senior office holders by the latest amendments to the Constitution, adopted in December 2023. That pool includes the Chair of the National Assembly, the Governor or a Deputy Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), the President or a Vice President of the National Audit Office, and the Ombudsman or a Deputy Ombudsman.

Zafirov said that Parliament has used its resources and cannot help fill the said pool.

He also said, "Today's situation with the attempt to form a caretaker cabinet once again demonstrated the inadequacy of the constitutional changes, that were firmly opposed by BSP. The blame for this goes to the parties that initiated and backed the changes in the Constitution. Some of them are very vocal in their attempts to limit the fallout from these changes." 

Zafirov said that BSP back the President for his principled position. He also said that Kalin Stoyanov "clearly creates tension in society". "After all, one person, be it a key minister, cannot be a stumbling block for the functioning of the entire state," he said.

BSP have moved for holding a meeting of Parliament's presiding body to discuss the situation and consider action, said Zafirov.

In his words, the country had come to "the edge of the Constitution and any delay of the elections can deepen the crisis".