site.btaUPDATED President Will Give Parties More Time before Handing Exploratory Mandate

"I will give a little more time - a few more days, in the hope that the [government-forming] negotiators realise that their responsibility is not only to their own voters and parties, but to the whole Bulgarian people," President Rumen Radev told journalists here on Monday, commenting on the forthcoming handing over of the first exploratory mandate to form a cabinet. Radev attended the traditional Epiphany ritual in Sofia for blessing of the Bulgarian Armed Forces' colours.

"I call on the political parties to stop playing with the fate of the people and the future of the country. I have given them enough time to fulfil their responsibility. To lightheartedly scratch everything and throw the country into another early elections, with so many pending problems, is a complete demonstration of irresponsibility," Radev said. 

On Sunday, the GERB-UDF announced that it was terminating the government-formation talks with Democratic Bulgaria (DB) after no agreement was reached on the personnel of the future cabinet. In recent days, negotiating teams from GERB-UDF, DB, BSP-United Left and There is Such a People have been holding talks on forming a regular cabinet. The DB sent a position in which they said they had learned about the decision of their colleagues from GERB from the media. 

The President congratulated those celebrating Epiphany and wished health and success the soldiers of the Bulgarian Army. 

The main priority for Europe this year is to guarantee security in an increasingly turbulent environment, Radev said, adding that the combat capability of the armed forces require more attention. "Against the backdrop of severe understaffing and an alarming exodus from the armed forces, I expect the National Assembly and the government to fulfil their commitment to increase the pay of servicepersons. This should be only the first step of a comprehensive programme to increase their motivation," Radev said.

"Today, Bulgarians have a growing feeling that we are on a steady course towards uncertainty and instability, that we are wasting precious historical time, and that the political class is incapable of providing any solutions. From the basic problems to the strategic perspective," the head of State further said.

Asked by journalists about the upcoming election of the prosecutor general on January 16, the President said, "I have already said that this Supreme Judicial Council has repeatedly shown that it is woven by dependencies and subject to political conjuncture. Moreover, it has an expired mandate. In this situation, I think that it is not this Supreme Judicial Council that can elect a prosecutor-general, and we only have one candidate. This will in no way contribute to restoring confidence in the judiciary'.