Bulgaria's President presented "We Continue the Change" a mandate to form a government

On July 1, 2022, Bulgaria’s President, Rumen Radev, handed the mandate to the candidate for Prime Minister of the largest party represented in Parliament, “We Continue the Change”, to form a government.

"We Continue the Change" nominated Assen Vassilev as a candidate for Prime Minister to receive a mandate to form a government, said the chair of parliamentary group of the party Andrey Gyurov.

The reforms and funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan are waiting for their implementation, and since yesterday we have a foreign policy crisis.

You remember that I warned that if decisive reforms are not undertaken in the judiciary in the first 100 days of the government, the status quo will seek its revenge, President Rumen Radev said.

It is extremely important to form a stable government that will respond to the interests of the Bulgarian people. I expect adequate decisions, the Head of State added.

This is a huge responsibility for me. It is extremely important that we have a cabinet and that this cabinet works in the interest of the citizens, not in the interest of the status quo, and that it really defends the Bulgarian interest and the independence of Bulgaria as it did in the first term of “We Continue the Change”, Assen Vassilev said.

Earlier today, outgoing Prime Minister and leader of "We Continue the Change" Kiril Petkov proposed Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Assen Vassilev as a candidate for Prime Minister.

"I proposed to “We Continue the Change” that the next Prime Minister of Bulgaria should be named Assen Vassilev. A man I trust implicitly, with whom we started the fight, side by side, and with whom we will finish it, side by side, in one team. One team with him, with all the members of “We Continue the Change”, with all the coalition partners and all the supporters. It's time to roll up our sleeves and finish the job," outgoing PM Petkov said.

Images by Dessislava Kulelieva

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Bulgaria's President presented the mandate to seek to form a government after Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov, on Monday, June 27, submitted the government's resignation to Parliament after losing a vote of no confidence on June 22.

The mandate is first handed over to the largest parliamentary group, which is “We Continue the Change” party.

If unable to form a cabinet, the mandate is next given to the second largest parliamentary group, which is GERB-UDF.

If the second parliamentary group fails to present a cabinet, the President assigns a mandate to a third parliamentary group, at his choice.

If the third attempt to form a cabinet fails, the President then dissolves the Parliament by a decree, sets a new date for early elections and appoints a caretaker government.