site.btaUPDATED GERB Leader Borissov Withdraws Bid for PM-Designate "with Relief"

At a briefing here on Tuesday, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said he longer wishes to deal with this State and withdraws his proposal to become prime minister-designate. "We are expecting the neutral prime minister with relief. I will return the [first cabinet-forming] mandate as soon as I receive it," he said.

"We got the necessary answers: they say they do not see me as a good leader, prime minister," Borissov explained, referring to a Monday position of the Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) coalition. "They are talking about trading posts, but who is trading?" Borissov asked, explaining that GERB had proposed a working option where GERB nominates a prime minister and the CC-DB, a National Assembly chair. In his words, GERB have worked well with CC-DB's Atanas Atanasov and they trust each other. 

That proposal would put an end to the political crisis, Borissov argued. With their declaration on Monday, CC-DB rejected GERB's proposal, he added. The fact that CC-DB did not respond to BSP-United Left's invitation to a meeting on Tuesday is not a signal to GERB, Borissov commented.

The leader of GERB believes that at the National Assembly sitting on Wednesday, the nominee of There Is Such a People for Parliament chair, Silvi Kirilov, will get elected. GERB-UDF will again nominate Raya Nazaryan for the post. According to Borissov, the battle is who will be the next caretaker prime minister. "I want Bulgaria to be well, perhaps they will succeed," he added. 

"I firmly refuse to deal with all the problems they left us in the last four years. Yesterday [Monday] I said what I can do, the time frame, and they say it is unacceptable. It is now unacceptable for me too," he noted. "They talk about a neutral prime minister: who is that person, I want to compete with him. Why didn't they put his name on the table? But no one says who he is; say it, spill the beans," Borissov called on CC-DB.

On Monday, the GERB Executive Committee confirmed its decision of November 18 that leadership talks will be held only if the topic is the formation of a parliamentary majority and a regular government.

On November 8, Boyko Borissov told his party's assembly that he is the best option for prime minister given the current global geostrategic situation. According to Borissov, while other viable prime minister candidates are available, they are not as suitable as him, as they lack the personal contacts that he has.