Former Education and Science Minister Nikolai Denkov, who was nominated by the second-largest PP party for the position of head of government, handed the government mandate back to President Rumen Radev on Monday without having formed a government. This deepens the political crisis in the Balkan country after early parliamentary elections in October 2022. A transitional cabinet is currently in power in Sofia.
The Liberal PP (“We continue with the change”) failed Friday when it failed to vote on a letter of intent it had tabled on “national priorities” in parliament. Unfortunately, this did not receive enough parliamentary support, Denkow said at the start of the ceremony in the president’s office on Monday. Only 63 of the 177 parliamentarians present in the plenary chamber voted in favor of the declaration. A Liberal-Socialist coalition government led by the PP was overthrown in June 2022 by a vote of no confidence over its policies towards North Macedonia and the financial and economic sectors.
If a third attempt to form a government also fails, parliamentary elections would have to be held again – it would be the fifth since April 2021. President Rumen Radev has already warned of such a development in view of Bulgaria’s efforts to add to join the border-free Schengen area. Financial experts fear that another new election could have a negative impact on Bulgaria’s planned introduction of the euro.
(SDA)