site.btaUPDATED President Mandates Glavchev to Form Caretaker Cabinet, Elections to Be Held on October 27 if He Succeeds

President Rumen Radev Thursday handed a government-forming mandate to Dimitar Glavchev, the current head of the caretaker Cabinet. The President said that the topmost priority of the new cabinet should be combatting vote buying.

Glavchev has until Monday, August 26, to propose a cabinet composition and lineup.

If the mandate is successfully fulfilled, Bulgaria will have elections on October 27, said also the President. 

Handing the government mandate to Glavchev, the President said, "I urge your government to make its top priority countering vote buying and controlled voting. By accepting this mandate, you accept a responsible mission to mobilize the full forces of the State to combat this ugly phenomenon. This is a sine qua non for the success of this mandate. I hope I have been clear."

He went on to urge Dimitar Glavchev to do a thorough analysis of "all glitches you have experienced before coming to this point, and making sure they don't happen again". 

"During your first term as caretaker prime minister, along with the results achieved, there were suspicions about dependencies of certain political figures in the government you led. You denied those but today you have a real opportunity to deny them by proving otherwise. For this to happen, you should first propose carefully considered changes in the composition of the government and then follow it up with resolute action." He added that because of the constitutional role of caretaker cabinets, these actions are primarily related to the preparation and conduct of elections.

"I hand you a mandate to form a new caretaker government. This responsibility has returned to you again after the failed attempt of Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva, after the refusal of the other possible candidates and because of the restrictions for the leadership of the Bulgarian National Bank to take the premiership. And I believe that it is not right for the crisis in one institution to be extinguished by starting a fire in another one - an extremely important institution for the financial and economic stability of our country at a difficult time," President Radev added.