Parliament unanimously accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov

Bulgaria’s Parliament on March 6 voted to accept the resignation of Prime Minister, Acad. Nikolai Denkov. The item was included in the agenda on the proposal of We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (WCC-DB) parliamentary group. The resignation was accepted with 216 votes in favour, no votes against and no abstentions.

Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov submitted his resignation as part of planned cabinet rotation

At the beginning of the sitting of the Parliament, Nikolai Denkov said:

"Yesterday I resigned as Prime Minister. This is the fulfillment of a commitment made in the joint declaration of WCC-DB and GERB-UDF, with which the regular government started working exactly 9 months ago - on June 6, 2023. Let me remind you what tasks we united around with the declaration 9 months ago. First - to elect a stable government with a national mandate around which a constitutional majority can be formed. Secondly, that I should be Prime Minister for the first 9 months and that Mariya Gabriel should be Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs. For the next 9 months, the Prime Minister should be Mariya Gabriel and I should be Deputy Prime Minister. Thirdly, at the end of every 9 months, the Prime Minister should resign, the two parliamentary groups should vote on it and support the other parliamentary group's proposed nominee for the next period. Fourth - that the government implements coherent legislative and governance programmes. Fifth - constitutional amendments should be prepared and adopted in dialogue with the other parliamentary groups. Although the dialogue between the parties in this government has been repeatedly blown up and blocked, to date, we are implementing all the points of this declaration. What remains to be done is to implement the key point 6 - that a mechanism be established for prior agreement between parliamentary groups on the nominations for the regulatory bodies elected by Parliament to ensure the best selection of individuals of high professional and moral standing."

Denkov resigned a day before the 9 months of governance of the cabinet came to an end. Once the resignation is voted on by Parliament, for which there is no deadline, it is up to the President to hold consultations with all the parties represented in Parliament and hand a mandate to the largest political force - GERB-UDF.

Negotiations between the GERB-UDF and the WCC-DB are due to take place, with GERB putting on the table a draft coalition agreement for governance until the end of this National Assembly's term and a mechanism for decision-making.

WCC-DB said they would respond, and with his resignation, Nikolai Denkov said he was extending another invitation for negotiations.

After voting on the resignation of the government, the cabinet will continue to work until a new one is formed.