“There is Such a People” returned the mandate to form a government

Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev on April 28 handed over a mandate to form a government to the candidate for Prime Minister, nominated by the second largest parliamentary group.

It is not normal for us to form an unprincipled government, said Antoaneta Stefanova, who returned the mandate.

"In crises like today's, Bulgaria needs a regular and effective government, so every mandate is viewed with special hope, but I also understand your motives, because a sustainable and effective government cannot be created on the basis of unprincipled agreements and cannot be a commitment of only one party. Our society has been waiting for years for the Parliament to make specific decisions to clarify the electoral process. The sustainability of social and economic policy is no less important. In this regard, some decisions of the Bulgarian Parliament are especially important. We must seek a balance between the procedure for forming a government, the legislative activity of the National Assembly and the important deadlines and challenges facing our country. Along with all the proposals that are submitted and considered in the National Assembly, the most important is missing - the outgoing government continues not to submit a proposal to update the budget and thus deprives Bulgarian pensioners, citizens and businesses of support in case the National Assembly is dissolved and a caretaker government is appointed. I believe that your parliamentary group is sympathetic to these important topics for our society and I am ready to discuss your positions on them," said President Rumen Radev.

The constitution gives the head of state the right to decide which political force to give the third mandate to, not necessarily the third largest.

"Even before the elections, we said that we would not form a coalition with the parties of the status quo. It was clear that we would not form a government. This Parliament will not last more than a month, so everything necessary should be done to have a transparent election process," Toshko Yordanov, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of "There is Such a People" said after the meeting with the President.

He added that they had not given up the idea about the majority vote, and when the item tabled by them was considered in the parliamentary committee, all the others had voted against. According to him, “There is Such a People” would not support a cabinet proposed by BSP if the President handed the exploratory mandate to them.

images by Dessislava Kulelieva