Bulgaria is going through a difficult time politically, a time when it has to carry through the first in its history government rotation, as agreed 9 months ago when the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov was formed.

Yesterday, 19 March, Mariya Gabriel, representing the first political force in parliament GERB-SDS, handed President Rumen Radev back a folder with a fulfilled first exploratory mandate for the formation of a government. And many people breathed a sigh of relief after the protracted negotiations between the partners in the government, all the more so that social surveys have clearly shown people in Bulgaria do not want snap elections for parliament.

• Mariya Gabriel proposes list of new cabinet members

But the relief was short-lived – two hours after Mariya Gabriel made public the draft composition of the new cabinet, and the president issued a decree for its consideration by the National Assembly, We Continue the Change/Democratic Bulgaria (PP/DB) stated they were withdrawing their confidence in Mariya Gabriel because the names of the prospective cabinet ministers she announced had not been coordinated with their negotiating team. PP/DB gave a briefing, at which some of its leaders used unflattering epithets with regard to Gabriel, and accused her of violating the Constitution because “half of the people on the list of ministerial candidates have not given their consent for this.”

“Mrs. Gabriel is no longer part of the solution, she is part of the problem. Maybe she is the newest and most beautiful face of the mafia in Bulgaria,” said PP/DB co-chair Assen Vassilev.

• PP-DB disagrees with the composition of Gabriel's cabinet

This morning GERB/SDS gave a news conference at which it was made clear that for there to be a return to the negotiations, PP/DB have to apologize.

“I am expecting an apology for the epithets and the insults by We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria, and for the allegations that I violated the Constitution,” said Mariya Gabriel at a briefing this morning, and added:

“During these 9 months I have not allowed such a thing to happen, I have not breached the Constitution, the decree issued is for the appointment of a prime minister.”

She said that by nominating the ministers from her cabinet she had not violated the constitution, because 9 months ago all of the members of the current cabinet had given their consent to occupy these positions for the duration of 18 months, i.e. including during the period after the prime ministerial rotation. They are within their rights to withdraw, Mariya Gabriel said. The president only issues a decree for the nominated prime minister, not for the nominated members of the government in plenary, Gabriel said and went on:

“I still believe Bulgaria needs a government, stability, a government of shared responsibility. I believe now is the time to continue to demonstrate our responsibility to Bulgaria.”

We want there to be a government, the question is how to negotiate the turn after what has been side on both sides, said GERB leader Boyko Borissov and urged PP/DB to apologize to GERB immediately, and most of all to Mariya Gabriel, making it clear there is a way back to the negotiating table but that that will depend on whether Mariya Gabriel will accept PP/DB’s apology, and that this road passes through a difficult conversation with his own party, because the majority from GERB want early elections.

Boyko Borissov went on to talk about the International Monetary Fund report, saying that Finance Minister Assen Vassilev had performed a “budgetary balancing act so as to raise taxes” in the country. The GERB leader rejected PP/DB’s accusations that he is defending the interests of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), which is propping up the constitutional majority in parliament.

“I am not an advocate for the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, I do not want to make any comment on the friendship between the MRF and PP/DB because it is much bigger,” Borissov said but went on to add he had no intention of negotiating with the leaders of PP/DB personally because they were “behaving rudely”.

How the dialogue will develop and can an agreement be reached is still anyone’s guess. Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov on his part, gave an indication that the negotiations could be continued. In an interview with bTV this morning he said: “We could sit down at the negotiating table and continue in a way that is sensible. It is the only way out of this situation that is positive.”

Compiled by Ivo Ivanov

Translated and posted by Milena Daynova

Photos: BTA, BGNES