site.btaUPDATED DSB Proposes Nomination of Its leader Atanasov for Parliament Chair, GERB Want Borissov as PM

The national leadership of Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB) published a position on Sunday, proposing to its coalition partners Yes, Bulgaria and Continue the Change to nominate a common candidate of the coalition for chair of the 51st National Assembly, namely - DSB Chairman Atanas Atanassov. This sparked a series of comments from DSB's coalition partners and GERB, who insist on having their leader Boyko Borissov serve as prime minister in a future regular cabinet. 

The Bulgarian National Assembly remains in a legislative deadlock after the eighth attempt to elect a chair failed on Friday. Electing a chair is a critical step for resuming parliamentary functions. The process has been marred by deep political divisions and shifting alliances among parties, fuelled by disputes over leadership nominations and accusations of undue influence. 

GERB’s reaction

If it comes to the formation of a regular government, the prime minister must be from GERB, GERB-UDF MP Denitsa Sacheva told Bulgarian National TV, DSB’s proposal to nominate Atanassov for Parliament chair.

"What is being sought is not a chair of the National Assembly or a caretaker prime minister, what is being sought is a majority for [the formation of] a regular government. And that is what we proposed - our proposal was to sit at the negotiating table for a governing majority with Gen. Atanas Atanassov as chair of the National Assembly and [GERB leader] Boyko Borissov as prime minister. As the first political force we have our reasons and commitment to the voters to propose a prime minister, which from our point of view is Boyko Borissov,” Sacheva reiterated.

DSB's coalition partners 

In a position of Yes, Bulgaria, which is also part of the CC-DB coalition, sent to BTA, the party stated that it supports the potential candidacy of Atanas Atanassov for chairman of the 51st National Assembly. Yes Bulgaria added that "this is an opportunity to resolve the parliamentary crisis and unblock the work of the legislative body." "We stress that this does not mean support for Borissov's original proposal that he be prime minister and Atanassov chairman of the National Assembly," the party added.

DSB’s proposal to nominate Atanassov as a candidate for National Assembly chair will be discussed at a parliamentary group meeting, which is the format for making this kind of decisions, CC-DB MP Bozhidar Bozhanov told Bulgarian National Radio.  

Asked about a proposal for prime minister, Bozhanov pointed out that throughout the election campaign they had talked about an equidistant candidate. "In order for us to have mutual trust in this prime minister, they should not be a bright political figure," Bozhanov argued. 

Atanas Atanassov's candidacy for Parliament chair is a serious and conscientious attempt to untie the knot in which the National Assembly is entangled, MEP (DSB/EPP) Radan Kanev told Bulgarian National Radio Sunday.

He commented that conducting negotiations through the media is a guaranteed failure. People who do that are looking for failure, said Kanev. "My deep conviction given the current situation is that we need negotiations to be successful," the MEP added and commented that the political system has become polluted by the cascade of elections.

In a Sunday evening press release, Continue the Change said that they will back Atanassov, because DSB is their coalition partner. 

If Atanas Atanassov does not receive the necessary support, CC will continue to support any other candidate from a party that has signed the declaration for the removal of Peevski from power.

Other parties react

Later on Sunday, There Is Such a People (TISP) said in a press release that the party will not back the candidacy of Atanas Atanassov for Parliament Chair. 

"TISP can not support the party candidacy of Atanas Atanassov, especially since it was nominated by GERB. We do not participate in backroom deals and we are convinced that, at this complicated moment, the only practical, honest and moral choice for the provisional Parliament Chair is the election of the oldest MP, Silvi Kirilov," the party's position reads.