Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Political and institutional confrontation heralds a tense end of 2017

БНР Новини
Photo: BGNES

During the outgoing week the parliament in Sofia voted against the resignation submitted by the MP from the ruling party Gerb Delian Dobrev. He decided to step down after he had faced accusations from the left-wing opposition of irregularities at the Municipality of Haskovo. Dobrev had coordinated his resignation with Prime Minister and Gerb leader Boyko Borissov and the refusal of MPs to accept the resignation was interpreted as a sign of frictions between the parliamentary Gerb and its leader.

Earlier this week an interim parliamentary commission decided to return for voting the project for the purchase of new fighter jets on grounds that it had been compromised including by President Ruman Radev in his former capacity of commander of the Bulgarian Air Force. PM Borissov tried to play down the conflict of the MPs from the ruling Gerb with the president, but Rumen Radev rejected the “ceasefire” offer saying that Gerb was waging an institutional and media war on the Presidency. He added that there could be no accord to benefit the corruption comfort of the party in power and that he intended to follow the principle of fighting fire with fire.

Some observers speculate that political debates have grown bitter of late as a result of certain tensions inside the oppositional Bulgarian Socialist Party. They explain that after party leader Kornelia Ninova replaced most of the party leadership, she has now been trying to consolidate her new circle of close associates by hardening her tone of voice to the ruling coalition.

Others speculate that both with the ruling party and the opposition there is a trend of tightening party ranks with a view to the upcoming local elections. Gerb’s parliamentary leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov already identified such a need though these elections are due two years from now.

Time will tell which hypotheses are the right ones and to what extent. It has already become obvious however that the months by the end of the year will be tense and hot where political affairs in Bulgaria are concerned.

English Daniela Konstantinova




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Even if the leaders of GERB/SDS Boyko Borissov and of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms Delyan Peevski agree to form a cabinet together they will still need the support of a third political player

The dilemma regular government or elections in the autumn has not been resolved by the 9 June election

What looks like the landslide victory of GERB/SDS in the election for national parliament does not mean the party will be able to form a government at any cost, in the only form possible – what came to be known as an “assemblage”, as was the case with..

updated on 6/10/24 1:27 PM

Gallup: GERB is the leader, two parties are competing for second place

The exit poll results of the sociological agency "Gallup International Balkan", a partner of the BNR in covering the vote, show that 6 parties and coalitions would enter the 50th National Assembly. The agency's data registers..

updated on 6/9/24 8:43 PM

Ivan Tsankov from Argentina: Our elections are like that joke about the crow and the cheese

Ivan Tsankov is Bulgarian who has been living in Argentina for more than 20 years and is the secretary of the "Bulgarians in Argentina" civic association. He and his wife Aksinia maintain the website "Los bulgaros - the Bulgarians in..

published on 6/9/24 7:41 PM