Day two of President’s consultations with Parliamentary parties: Opposition eager to go to snap elections

President Rumen Radev had his second day of consultations with representatives of the parliamentary groups in the 49th National Assembly here on Tuesday. He met with the three opposition groups: Vazrazhdane, the Socialists of BSP for Bulgaria and There Is Such a People, in this order. They all told the head of State that a deal between GERB-UDF and Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) to extend their government will be bad for the country and made it clear that they are eager to go to snap elections.

On the first day of consultations, the President met separately with GERB-UDF, CC-DB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). The first two told him that the negotiations between them on the future of the government are constructive and making good progress; GERB also told him that they need more time for talks, and MRF said that should the first two parties agree on a government, they would back those of its decisions that are good for the people. 

With the consultations now over, it remains unclear when the President plans to hand the first exploratory mandate for the formation of a government to GERB.

He can do this any day now as the Constitution does not prescribe a deadline. Once they accept the mandate, GERB-UDF will have a week to propose a government or return the mandate unused. In the second case, the President will ask the second largest party in Parliament to form a government, and it has the same timeframe for that.

The third – and last – mandate is offered by the President to a party of his choice but this time the Constitution does not prescribe a timeframe.

Here is a takeaway from the Tuesday talks with the political forces:

Meeting with Vazrazhdane, Radev asked them if they are ready to propose a formula to fulfil a third cabinet-forming mandate in case the first two fail. 

"You have positioned yourselves as opposition to this Government," the President said. Pointing out that the 49th National Assembly is currently trying to elect a government, he asked the Vazrazhdane representatives how they assess the efforts in this regard and what the likelihood of a cabinet being formed is.

"If we hold snap parliamentary elections and the configuration turns out to be similar, what do you think will happen afterwards," Radev asked the representatives of the parliamentary group after its floor leader, Kostadin Kostadinov, said that early elections are the solution.

Radev and Kostadinov clashed over the Vazrazhdane project for a referendum against the euro changeover in Bulgaria in the coming years. The proposal was backed by more than 400,000 signatures but was eventually rejected by the legislature as the majority argued that it was unlawful to hold a referendum on matters regulated by international treaties concluded by Bulgaria.

On Tuesday, the Vazrazhdane leader said that the President "is also to blame for the current situation in Bulgaria" because he should have taken a position in favour of the referendum against the euro changeover. The President rejected the accusation and said that he is guided by the Constitution.

"I am guided only by the Constitution, whatever it is, as you in Parliament have made it. I implement it. It is high time to put an end to these speculations," the President said.

He also asked Vazrazhdane not to rile up their supporters and lay the blame on the presidential institution.  He pointed out that without a clear and firm decision from the National Assembly, he could not sign a decree for a referendum.

"The voice of all those people who put their signatures in support of the referendum must by no means be disregarded. But you are asking me to fight lawlessness with lawlessness. There is no way I can do it," Radev told the Vazrazhdane representatives.

"Bulgaria will start to resemble a normal, democratic country when we all respect the laws," the President said. "I consider a very serious issue the fact that Parliament did not muster the courage to respect the law and, above all, to respect the will of all those people who have signed in favour of a referendum," Radev added.

The President said that he strongly supports the notion that the will of the Bulgarian people should be respected, but in his words, this debate should take place in Parliament. "When you come up with a clear decision there, feel free to come here, and you will have my decree," the President said.

Speaking to the press after the consultation with the President, Kostadinov siad that "a successful rotation implies unsuccessful development for Bulgaria". In his words, the President should hand over the cabinet-forming mandate the very next day because GERB-UDF and CC-DB are sure to reach an agreement on the future of the government.

Kostadinov added that according to information Vazrazhdane has, GERB leader Boyko Borissov had agreed with CC-DB to get the Prosecutor General's Office. 

"Bulgaria is dying, and its killers are in the National Assembly," Kostadinov said.

He noted that the topics of discussion during the consultations included "the current political situation in this country and abroad, the fact that Bulgaria is threatened by war, that the Bulgarian Government poses a threat to national security, Bulgarian communities abroad, and the referendum on preserving the Bulgarian lev". He reiterated Vazrazhdane’s stance that "the sooner snap elections are held, the better".

Meeting with representatives of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, President Radev asked them if they are ready to propose a government formula and how they “assess the remaining political resources of this National Assembly to really form a sustainable government”. He told them that the party has clearly positioned itself as an opposition to the government. 

BSP for Bulgaria floor leader Kornelia Ninova said: “Our position has been clear and unequivocal since the first day of the formation of this government. Time has proved that it is right. This government and this majority are harmful to the country. The agony in which Bulgaria was dragged can only be ended with early elections,” Ninova said.

In her words, this government “was created in a sin, betraying the hopes and expectations of hundreds of thousands of people for a change of the current model of governance”.

Meeting with TISP, Rumen Radev said that while TISP ends the cycle of consultations as the smallest party in terms of number of MPs, it is "not last in terms of quality". He asked whether the party sees a new political configuration within this parliament that would provide sustainable governance.

TISP floor leader Toshko Yordanov said that in his party’s view that the current Parliament makes no sense, which is why the best scenario would be to move to early elections. Yordanov stated: "This Parliament has been exhausted since the moment the government was formed this way – by two political formations with the support of a third one that lied to their voters. The very conception of this government was flawed."

The TISP MP blamed Parliament for introducing "extremely harmful amendments to the Constitution".

According to TISP, the right approach is to have an expert government with broad parliamentary support, where each party would carry responsibility for the experts they have put forward.