On May 4 Bulgaria’s National Assembly has approved the structure and the members of the country’s new cabinet. Bulgaria will be governed again by a coalition cabinet headed by GERB leader Boyko Borissov. Unlike last time, when the right-wing Reformist Bloc was partnering GERB in the government, now the nationalistic United Patriots coalition will be the smaller coalition partner in the ruling coalition.

The structure of the new Borissov 3 cabinet does not differ significantly from the one of the previous government. However, there are some surprises with regard to the members of the new cabinet. Although the electoral weigh of the United Patriots is much smaller than the one of GERB party, two out of all four Deputy Premiers are leaders of political formations from the United Patriots coalition-the leader of VMRO Krasimir Karakachanov and the leader of NFSB Valeri Simeonov. Meanwhile, two Ministers nominated by the United Patriots- the newly-elected Minister of Environment and Water Neno Dimov (nominated by VMRO) and the Minister of Economy Emil Karaivanov (nominated by Ataka party) are considered having close relations with GERB. Once, Neno Dimov served as Deputy Minister of Environment in Ivan Kostov’s cabinet.  That is why some people perceive that appointment as a courtesy towards the right which remained unrepresented at the current National Assembly. The abovementioned surprises prove that the formation of the new regular cabinet has been based on complicated balances. The final version of the new cabinet will become clear in the next few days when the names of all Deputy Ministers will be announced. According to the coalition agreement, if the Minister of a given Ministry is nominated by one of the two partners, the other coalition partner will have the right to nominate a Deputy Minister at the same ministry. Thus, the balance of interests will be kept.

With regard to the intentions of the new ruling coalition, there aren’t any significant surprises. Premier Borissov confirmed that the new cabinet would continue the policy of Euro-Atlantic integration. He also pointed out that there was not alternative to the currency board and promised to continue with the judicial reform and the fight against corruption.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party voted against Borissov’s cabinet due to differences in their political ideas and programmes. BSP again confirmed its intention to be an opposition and alternative to the new government.

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms also voted against the current cabinet with the argument that “GERB has chosen for the second time to make a coalition which is not expected to bring stability and make reforms”. MRF has serious objections to the participation in the government of political parties which in its view “follow the policy of aggressive nationalism and have only changed their vocabulary, in order to become part of the government”. The MRF’s position expressed from the National Assembly rostrum was quite categorical, which raises doubts whether that party would provide Parliamentary support to the new coalition government.

The leader of Volya Party businessman Veselin Mareshki promised to support the new cabinet and pointed out that he would monitor every single action of the new cabinet to find out whether it would justify the trust given by Volya party in advance.

GERB, the United Patriots and Volya party voted in favor of the new cabinet and BSP and the MRF voted against. The newly-elected cabinet is the ninth coalition government in Bulgaria formed since the beginning of the democratic changes in 1989 and the third cabinet headed by Premier Boyko Borissov since 2009. The coalition partners GERB and the United Patriots can rely on the support of 122 MPs at the National Assembly. In other words, the new government, just like the previous one, will rely on a variable and floating support in Parliament.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov