Fierce debates before the voting on the draft cabinet "Zhelyazkov" - will there be a government?

The Parliament on July 3 will vote on the proposed GERB-UDF cabinet of Rosen Zhelyazkov. The agenda of the MPs includes the election of the Prime Minister, the adoption of the structure of the Council of Ministers and the election of the Cabinet.

The debate and the vote can be followed live on BNT 1 and bntnews.bg.

The candidate for Prime Minister from GERB-UDF Rosen Zhelyazkov presented the structure of the draft government.

"The line-up of the government I have proposed has the main task of restoring effective governance to overcome at least three deficits - a deficit of trust and legitimacy, a deficit of goal-setting and goal-achievement, and a deficit of law enforcement," said the nominee for Prime Minister, Rosen Zhelyazkov.

“On average, over the last three years, elections have been held in Bulgaria every six months. Society has become apathetic and no longer trusts to give trust. This leads to a lack of interest from voters and only hard core voters go to vote," he added.

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"The path of unity is difficult, I propose the formation of a government with a clear political mandate. I have presented a structure and line-up without an assured majority - like a minority government with a policy to make up for lost time. We will achieve it together with modernization, digitalization, increasing labour productivity, digitalization and as an instrument of public processes, reducing the administrative and corruption burden, we will also focus our policies on the link between education and the labour market," said Rosen Zhelyazkov.

From the parliamentary rostrum Nikolay Denkov from We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria said that they would vote "against" the proposed cabinet and defined it as ‘forget about the future’ government.

"Today we have a GERB government with trusted ministers of Peevski (Movement for Rights and Freedoms - MRF). Are we really being offered the same ministers who sparked the 2020 protests and ministers from 2013 when Plamen Goranov set himself on fire in protest? This is not a government "return from the past", it is a government "forget about the future".

"The election results put us in the shoes of a strong, pro-European opposition. 'Who' is not stronger than the people," Denkov said.

During Nikolay Denkov's speech, GERB-UDF leader Boyko Borissov left the plenary chamber.

"I do not want to listen to lies. Denkov says he had made a government - he did it with my MPs," Borissov said.

"I turn to my colleagues from WCC-DB - in difficult situations we supported each other. This is mutual and if there were benefits and negatives, it was for both formations. Mr Denkov, I will not allow you to attach me to the MRF. From what I have said so far, we only needed the conscious support of a dozen or so of you MPs to take full responsibility.

I say to my colleagues from the MRF: 'Thank you for your support'. We will not support a second mandate and we will not support a third mandate because it is not logical for parties with 5-6% (election result from the votes) to dominate.

The new strong figure in this Parliament is Kostadinov (the leader of Vazrazhdane party) and I say this with respect. But I have seen how today he commands you, the BSP and "Velichie", for which I say "Congratulations!". There is already such a majority, let us stop embarrassing ourselves in front of the people, they have listened to everything. Let us tell the Bulgarian people that we apologise and we will appear before them again. I am being respectful, I am not insulting anyone. See you after the elections. Let's stop voting, go camaigning and ask for forgiveness," Borissov said.

Borissov's words provoked the reaction of the co-chairman of "We Continue the Change" Kiril Petkov:

"What we heard from Mr Borissov would have been very constructive if he had come out and said that he repented and asked for forgiveness, that the judicial reform did not come into force, that the security services did not work, that I did not keep the agreement, that I brought down a regular government twice. I also repent and I'll tell you why - sorry that in our previous chance we didn't put these reforms as a priority."

The MRF, as the second largest political force, will support the mandate of the first, said MRF Deputy Chairman Yordan Tsonev. He pointed out that people have reduced to a critical minimum the trust in parties and everyone wants to stabilise political life and have a regular government.

"We said during the consultations with the President that we will support the mandate of the winner in the elections because we respect the voters. Even if the turnout drops to 5 percent there is no other way to break the crisis except for someone to agree to elect a cabinet. The other is to change the constitutional arrangements - come and see who will change it. This paragraph 22, where we go to elections, is not going to lead to anything. The MRF is not like the others," he said.

Vazrazhdane has already announced it will not support Zhelyazkov's draft cabinet. From the parliamentary rostrum, party chairman Kostadin Kostadinov said GERB voters would not forgive them for cooperating with MRF.

"I know that there is no MP, no GERB voter who supports you becoming a crutch for the MRF. There is no normal GERB supporter who wants you to become a supplement to the MRF. You will share the fate of the BSP. Your voters will not forgive you. MRF is an ethnic-political mafia. It questions elements of national security," Kostadinov said.

"There is Such a People" also reiterated its position that they would vote "no".

"We are convinced that the way out of the crisis in which the country obviously is, can only happen with an expert cabinet with a clear programme and it should have broad parliamentary support and not be dominated by any party. So, if Mr. President hands the third mandate to There is Such a People, we will invite all parties for talks on a specific programme and an expert cabinet," said There is Such a People PG Chairman Toshko Yordanov.

"BSP for Bulgaria" will not support the draft cabinet, said the chairman of the parliamentary group Borislav Gutsanov. The Socialists would support an expert government.

"We approach GERB with respect for trying to form a cabinet. We cannot support this cabinet. You do not realise that you have created rifts in society. There must be a cabinet, but of experts, of national consensus," he said.

Krasimira Katincharova from "Greatness" called on the leaders of the other parties to repent "for everything you have created".

"You are about to vote in or reject a government, but I have a question for all of you who have created or overthrown governments by having no idea how to improve education. You have not shown an ounce of repentance for all that you have created. You are slowly selling Bulgaria so you can redeem yourselves," Katincharova said.

What are the possible scenarios for the fate of the Zhelyazkov draft cabinet?