site.btaParliament Starts Debating No-Confidence Motion against Zhelyazkov Cabinet

The MPs are debating a motion of no-confidence against the government of Rossen Zhelyazkov, submitted by Vazrazhdane over what this party sees as a failure of the fiscal policy. The plenary hall refused to allow live broadcasting of the debate on the Bulgarian National Television and Bulgarian National Radio.

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and ministers from the cabinet are present in the plenary hall.

The reasoning for the motion was presented by Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov. He spoke of "successive profound failures in the pursued financial policy" and said that the Cabinet is deepening fiscal imbalances and is not undertaking the necessary urgent measures to restore the sustainability of the public finances.

He argued that the government’s budget pursues incorrectly set goals, based on false statistical data, overly optimistic macroeconomic forecasts, and unrealistic expectations for tax revenue collection.

He also alleged that there is lack of public support for the cabinet’s intention to relinquish "a key part of Bulgaria’s sovereignty by destroying the 145-year-old Bulgarian lev", abolishing the currency board, and reducing the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) to a branch of the European Central Bank (ECB).

Officially, the government claims to pursue a policy of “sustainable and transparent public finances,” but this is just an empty slogan devoid of real substance. It is impossible to talk about the sustainability of public finances when the government has planned to increase the debt in the next four years from BGN 41 billion in 2024 to 88.9 billion in 2028. The country’s debt will not only double in absolute terms over the next years, but will also increase as a share of GDP from 23.5% (practically the lowest in the EU) to 36% of GDP, the motion’s sponsors argue.