The first political force in the 45^th Bulgarian parliament will not fulfill the mandate to form a government handed to it by the head of state on Tuesday (April 20t^h). The attempt of the GERB-SDS coalition to hold talks for support with the two invited political forces - "Democratic Bulgaria" and "There is such a people"(ITN) - failed. The candidate for prime minister in the proposed cabinet by GERB-SDS, Daniel Mitov, commented:

"We made a serious, open attempt to call on the parties with whom we intended to discuss specific policies and opportunities to form a cabinet that would take responsibility for governing a country which, you know, is not easy”.

GERB did not receive support from any other political force in the 45^th parliament, which is why the party's leader Boyko Borissov announced the decision of the party’s Executive Council to return the mandate and predicted that new parliamentary elections would be inevitable. The investigative mandate is now to be given to the second largest political force in the National Assembly, “There is such a people” (ITN).

"There is such a people" will not make a government, they are afraid and will not act responsibly like us”, Boyko Borissov said.

Speculation about the future actions of the second political force is intensifying also due to their strategy to remain silent about their future plans. At the moment, only what was announced during the election campaign is known - that they will not enter into political interactions with the parties from the status quo (GERB, BSP, MRF).

"The only thing that can trigger ITN to form a cabinet at the moment is their desire to remove GERB from power," said political scientist Ivan-Assen Ivanov. In an interview with BNR’s Horizont Channel, he ruled out the possibility of external pressure on political forces to form a government:

"We are currently in a situation where all sorts of things are being said, especially given the silence of the second political party, which is quite unusual. But in the end, I do not see any reason why the situation in Bulgaria, given the complicated international situation, would arouse strong interest. Yes, maybe our international partners prefer to have a working government in Bulgaria, but they will hardly make bets."

Analysts are looking for signs to lift the curtain on the next act of the political play. The exploratory mandate of "There is such a people" is expected to be handed over with increased interest, as their candidate for prime minister must go to the president. His personality may signal a future intention, and also it is possible that ITN will refuse the mandate.

"I do not approve of what ITN has chosen as their strategy," says Ivan-Asen Ivanov. “I think it is normal to have some secrecy about the formation of a government. No one expects the ITN to name specific names, but still forming a government is the formation of the most public institutional form of governance, and as such, this process requires some form of communication, at least with the citizens who have elected this party to be in parliament. This almost occult mysteriousness - as if we are not witnessing the formation of a government, but an initiation into the lodge of a secret organization - does not bring any positive effects for ITN. Given all this, the situation is entirely unpredictable”.

"We will do what we have to do the moment we are given the mandate," said ITN parliamentary group chairman Toshko Yordanov.

But his words, delivered two days ago in plenary, somewhat shift the issue like a "hot potato" directly to the third investigative mandate: "If a third mandate is reached by chance, and this will happen, the one who will receive it needs to think carefully about what they will do."

"In my opinion, if the ITN fails to form a cabinet, the third political force that takes the mandate would not have the high legitimacy to form a government, even if it wants to. But the situation is still evolving, we have yet to see what ITN will do but the signals they give so far are absolutely multifaceted. With them, anything is possible”, says political scientist Ivan-Assen Ivanov.

Compiled by Elena Karkalanova (based on an interview with Silvia Velikova of BNR’s Horizon Channel)

English version Rositsa Petkova