site.btaGERB Leader Says TISP and BSP "Were Unsupportive and Cabinet Reformatting Had to Be Called Off"

GERB leader Boyko Borissov told reporters in Parliament Wednesday that as GERB's government coalition partners were unsupportive, what he called "a Cabinet reformatting" had to be called off. "When you reformat something, you need everybody's support," said Borissov.

The "Cabinet reformatting" phrase came from his remarks to the party leadership in the wake of local elections in Pazardzhik where MRF-New Beginning won the most votes and GERB slumped to sixth position. In his words, Borissov questioned the place of GERB in the current government and suggested that the party may be withdrawing. One week later - when Parliament stopped sitting and the government called off its weekly meeting - a meeting of the government coalition partners was held and the only outcome that was communicated to the press was that GERB and There Is Such a People insist for rotating the position of Parliament leader among the three parties.

Commenting his meeting with MRF - New Beginning, Borissov said that he had invited Peevski and his party and asked them "on what condition the current government can continue to exist". 

Peevski has consistently supported the Cabinet of Rosen Zhelyazkov. 

In Borissov's words, "they will back the Cabinet without asking anything in exchange".

He added though that "the responsibility for the government is for GERB and the other two parties in the coalition". 

Borissov further explained that GERB-UDF, BSP - United Left and There Is Such a People (TISP) don't have enough votes among them to pull through important decisions in the legislature. "With their 100 seats, [GERB] with BSP and TISP can't have a government or adopt a budget," he said.

The three groups actually have 102 seats in the 240-seat legislature: 66 for GERB-UDF, 19 for BSP - United Left and 17 for TISP. New Beginning has 29 MPs.

"Whether BSP - United Left and TISP are stable partners, is up to them. I gave them a word for a full term in office and I gave a word to Peevski this morning as well," said the GERB leader.

He dismissed allegations that he is seeking Peevski's support to make him Prime Minister. "I am not aiming to become Prime Minister. Three times is enough for me. It would have been good if I was Prime Minister but we don't want to overwhelm people and the parties with our presence".

Borissov was prime minister in three governments: from 2009 to 2013, 2014 to 2017 and 2017 to 2021.

Commenting warning by the opposition that the power-holders are behind schedule with the 2026 state budget procedure, he said, "How can be on time when we didn't have a majority until this morning". "And now I had to take charge of the process and stand next to Delyan [Peevski] and agree to secure a majority."

He went on to claim credit for "securing stability in the country" and "taking the responsibility for that". "Now that I have secured a majority for the Prime Minister and the government without sustaining any damage, what they need to do is sit down and agree among the four parties about the budget, and make sure we have 121 votes."

Borissov was adamant that the position of Parliament leader should be rotated between the three government coalition partners, with one-year stints for each.

GERB's nominee will be Raya Nazaryan. 

Borissov went on to comment the situation with the President's Administration not having cars for the President's staff. He said "On Day One I called for securing money for the President's Office" to buy cars after the requisite procedures. "He refused but that was his choice. To me he [Rumen Radev] is not President - he is a party leader," he added.

On a motion by MRF - New Beginning, Parliament changed the law governing the operation of the National Service for Protection (NSP) and banned the use of NSP vehicles by the President's staff. 

NSP is in charge of the transportation and security of the President, and the President's Administration does not have its own cars. After the revisions were voted conclusively, the President said he would be using his own cars when travelling with members of his staff as am act of solidarity with them. The first time he did that publicly was last weekend when he arrived with his own car in the southern town of Smolyan to welcome the visiting President of Hungary, Tamas Sulyok.  

Borissov did not miss a chance to mention again Bulgaria's natural gas contract with Botas of Turkiye and said that "hundreds of millions have already been invested there and this is the money of young people". The Botas deal was enthusiastically supported by President Radev when it was signed in 2023 under a caretaker Prime Minister appointed by him, but has since proven hugely detrimental for Bulgaria.