site.btaParliament Fails to Elect Chair at Fifth Attempt, to Try Again Nov. 27

Once again, the 51st National Assembly failed to elect a Chairperson on Friday. It was the fifth attempt at the end of the second week of work of the new Parliament even though it is technically the first sitting of the new legislature.

Electing a Chair is the first thing for a new Parliament to do, according to the Constitution, and the country’s basic law does not provide for a scenario in which the MPs fail to accomplish that.

This Parliament was elected at snap general elections on October 27.

The first sitting of the 51st National Assembly will resume on November 27 at 11:00 am.

The first round of voting for a Chair on Friday was with four nominees: Raya Nazaryan of GERB-UDF, Silvi Kirilov of There Is Such a People (TISP), Natalia Kisselova of BSP-United Left and Petar Petrov of Vazrazhdane. Nazaryan and Kirilov reached a run-off but neither won the votes needed to be elected. 

TISP's nominee Silvi Kirilov, who chaired the first sitting as the oldest MP, received 101 votes in favour, 99 MPs were against and 37 abstained. GERB's nominee Raya Nazaryan was supported by 68 MPs, 150 voted against and 20 abstained.

The nominees

The GERB-UDF reaffirmed the candidacy of Raya Nazarian for the post. Temenuzhka Petkova highlighted parts of her biography. "What I can say is that Ms Nazaryan is an excellent lawyer", Petkova said. "Nazaryan was a successful Chair of the 50th National Assembly. She was the person who strictly followed the rules, always sought and found balance", Petkova added, urging the MPs to return to the normal parliamentary practice, which requires the first political force to elect the Chair of the Bulgarian parliament. Petkova said that on October 27 the Bulgarian citizens had awarded the first seat to GERB-UDF and called on the MPs to fulfil the will of the Bulgarian citizens and elect Raya Nazaryan as Parliament Chair.

BSP-United Left nominated again Assoc. Prof. Natalia Kisselova for the post. Borislav Gutsanov said that the road to consensus is mined by red lines. He pointed out that it was time to stop the antagonism. In his words, electing a Chair is not a way out of the crisis and a mathematical majority will open the way for floating majorities in Parliament. Gutsanov said they were inviting all parliamentary groups that wanted to put an end to this to form a non-partisan majority that would stand behind a few clear priorities. "Politics is the art of the possible, let's do the possible", Gutsanov urged, adding that with the election of Silvi Kirilov Bulgaria would head towards early parliamentary elections.

Vazrazhdane nominated Petar Petrov once again. "He is a determined, firm and consistent person, we believe he is the most suitable candidate who can lead this parliament out of the political crisis it is in", said Vazrazhdane MP Tsveta Rangelova. 

TISP nominated the oldest MP in this National Assembly - Silvi Kirilov, to be Chair until a majority is formed. TISP MP Toshko Yordanov is convinced that Vazrazhdane, Continue the Change, ARF and MECh groups would overcome their own party goals in this situation, which leaves only the parliamentary groups of BSP - United Left and Democratic Bulgaria. 

Proposals for a way out of the empass

The Bulgarian Socialist Party's (BSP) press office reported on Friday that BSP - United Left has sent a letter to five parliamentary political forces in the 51st National Assembly, inviting them to discuss the formation of a non-partisan majority to elect a National Assembly Chair. The letter for talks has been sent to the representatives of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), Vazrazhdane, Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF), There Is Such a People (TISP) and Morality, Unity, Honour (MECh). Only GERB-UDF and MRF-New Beginning won't get the invitation. "The aim is to form a non-partisan majority, which will stand behind several clear priorities and on the basis of these priorities we can elect a parliament leader", the letter reads. "This approach will allow Parliament to start real work". "The result of the elections did not lead to a clear majority in the National Assembly and the road to consensus is mined by red lines", the latter also said. This predicament has been repeated "not once or twice, but in seven successive legislatures". "It is time to stop the antagonism and opposition, because the people count on us and expect us to have common sense, political wisdom, but also show statesmanship," BSP-United Left says. They argue that the mathematical majority to choose "first among equals" will get MPs out of one deadlock and lead them to another.

Ahead of Friday's vote, Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) co-leader Kiril Petkov urged GERB-UDF to withdraw the candidacy of Raya Nazaryan. He said to the media that he was speaking on behalf of both Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria, adding that Nazaryan garnered the most negative votes of all the nominations. Petkov did not specify how his colleagues from the DB, who abstained last time in the ballot, would vote in plenary session on Friday. "I urge GERB to withdraw their candidate because to do the same and expect different results is the definition of madness", Petkov added. He reminded that 26 days have already passed since the elections and the first political force GERB - UDF cannot gather a majority for Chair, not even talks have started with the second political force. "The fact that [the GERB] colleagues still refuse to invite the second political force is an outrage to me", Petkov added. Petkov called on TISP to confirm their signature on the declaration of "sanitary cordon" around MRF-New Beginning of Delyan Peevski in exchange for support for Silvi Kirilov.  And he confirmed that the CC-DB will not nominate a candidate for Chair on Friday. According to Petkov, any delay in the work of Parliament helps Borislav Sarafov to be elected Prosecutor General on January 16, 2025. 

GERB leader Boyko Borissov said he would not withdraw the nomination of Raya Nazaryan. He said he did not see why the election campaign was continuing in Parliament. He responded to Elisaveta Belobradova MP CC-DB, who stressed that the largest political force had done nothing so far to form a majority. "What do you want from me - to withdraw my candidate for whom over 600,000 voted," Borissov asked. "I will not withdraw the nominee - nothing gives me the right to withdraw her," he added.

MP Dzevdet Chakarov from the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF) commented that Parliament must start working. "We have to elect a Chair of the National Assembly," he underscored. Asked if it comes to a run-off between Raya Nazaryan and Silvi Kirilov whom they will support, Chakarov said the ARF will support Kirilov. "The situation is dynamic, we will have adequate behaviour. Our position is constructive, Parliament should work", he said. Chakarov explained that the ARF is in favour of examining all anti-corruption laws in the most urgent order. "First of all, this needs to be done in the judiciary, but there are a number of other issues that need to be addressed", Chakarov added. In his words, the National Assembly needs to get to work because the country is lagging behind with the Recovery and Resilience Plan, as well as a number of EU and operational programmes. Chakarov stressed that the budget has to be considered in context of the new realities.

TISP leader Slavi Trifonov wrote in his Facebook profile on Friday that he is embarrassed by what he sees in Parliament. The choice of the oldest MP to become the interim Chair of the 51st Parliament is a lifeline, and it was TISP that threw it for the others, Trifonov adds. The TISP leader clarifies that his party is nominating Assoc. Prof. Dr. Silvi Kirilov for Chair of the 51st Parliament so that it can start work, the President can start handing out the cabinet forming mandates and, if possible, a government can be formed. Trifonov also reminds that if a majority is found to form a government, Silvi Kirilov will immediately resign, and the majority will elect a Chair of Parliament. "If this does not happen, then we go to elections and according to the Constitution, it is the President who will decide who will be the prime minister of the caretaker government," Trifonov wrote.