The pro-EU coalition Continuing the Change-Democratic Bulgaria, which came second in the last parliamentary election, announced that it would not support the government proposed by GERB because it had promised voters that it would not accept the former prime minister and current GERB leader Boyko Borisov to return to prime ministerial power.
The corruption scandals embroiled in Borisov since he was prime minister are among the electoral stakes for the pro-European coalition.
“We will not support GERB because of our values. Citizens must be sure that what we promised will be realized when they vote for us. We will talk to all parties about policies (not coalitions),” said Continuing Change co-chair Kirill Petkov.
“We understand that 70% of Bulgarians want an end to the political crisis and the formation of a government. We stand by them in this, but we cannot support a government under Boyko Borisov,” said Atanas Atanasov of Democratic Bulgaria.
“Much more is achieved with patience than with stubbornness,” Borisov wrote an hour later on Facebook.
Borisov won the election with 26.5% of the vote and proposed Continuing the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (24.5%) to join a coalition to guarantee Bulgaria’s Euro-Atlantic path.
Bulgaria’s Western partners are pushing for the formation of a pro-European coalition as the country emerges as the weakest part of NATO due to strong Russian influence in Bulgarian society.
The pro-Russian anti-EU party Vazrazhdane is already the third political force in the country with 14.1% of the vote, achieving a 4% increase in its share in the last election.
If the “Continuing Change-Democratic Bulgaria” alliance sticks to its decision, GERB has no other options to form a Euro-Atlantic majority in parliament. Borissov’s party may try to negotiate a coalition with the ethnic Turkish minority party DPS and the pro-Russian Bulgarian Socialist Party.
These three parties became known as the “paper coalition” because they temporarily allied in the previous parliament to restore mass voting by paper ballots, which has been linked to widespread electoral fraud.
The other option, which is highly unlikely, sees Borissov refusing to form a government and then backing the “Continuing Change – Democratic Bulgaria” coalition, which will receive a second mandate to take over executive power in the poorer EU country.
Source : Euractive
