Hristo Ivanov resigns as leader of "Yes, Bulgaria" , will not take a seat as MP in the next Parliament.

The leader of “Yes, Bulgaria”, Hristo Ivanov, has resigned as chairperson of the party. The Executive board has accepted the resignation, Ivanov himself said at a briefing at Yes, Bulgaria’s headquarters in Sofia on Monday, June 10.

“Yes, Bulgaria” is part of the “Democratic Bulgaria” coalition, which is part of ‘We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria” (WCC-DB) coalition.

"We believe that this result for the parties of our coalition requires taking leadership responsibility, which is why I resigned and colleagues supported this decision," Ivanov said.

The party's National Council is to organise the election of a new chairman.

Hristo Ivanov declared that he would not run for the post. He will also not take a seat as an MP in the 50th Parliament.

"I think that it is extremely important to do everything possible to start the conversation with the voters in a new way and on a new page and that they see a serious attitude to the signal that I am sending and therefore I think that we should go all the way. I will dedicate myself to my family from now on and to the “Yes Bulgaria” party. Anything I can do to repay that trust in the form of serving them, I will do - I will be active with them and among them. So I will stay on the ground, I will just work in a different capacity and in a different way. I'm not giving up the cause I'm working for," Ivanov said.

He said that, as a leader, he had failed to mobilise public support for Yes Bulgaria's causes and therefore took responsibility. In his words, the political line of profound reforms that Yes Bulgaria has followed has been blown up by GERB.

"By sticking to Delyan Peevski absolutely without any difference, they blew up the possibility of such a conversation and the search for such a compromise, which is also the reason for our decision. Because the terrain on which we could apply such a policy was burned by the Borisov-Peevski tandem," he pointed out.

This has led to a serious outflow of voters who, however, have not gone to vote for another party, Ivanov pointed out.

"I would like to say one last thing to the voters who did not go to the polling stations to vote for us - I accept their verdict and I think that by today's act I am showing that I seek their apology for everything that I have done to disappoint them or in any way sway them about the way we are going. I also want to thank the people who voted. I realise that this was an even harder decision for many of them and I want to tell them that I will continue to work in every way I can for the causes that we shared," said Hristo Ivanov.

Hristo Ivanov pointed out that his decision to resign was a personal act and it did not bind the other leaders in the WCC-DB, stressing that responsibility could be borne in different ways.

"Yes Bulgaria" remains a partner in the coalition "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria" with its new leadership and will fulfill the responsibilities it has assumed. However, Ivanov said a conversation is needed to build on the formula of representation of democratic parties in the country.

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Preliminary results of the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria held on June 9, based on 85.47% of the tally sheets processed, show that WCC-DB coalition is in third place, backed by 15,11% of the votes. GERB-UDF wins the largest share of votes - 24.41%. the Movement for Rights and Freedoms is second with 15.80%.