Bulgaria, July 4 (FN Agency) The National Assembly (parliament) of Bulgaria voted against a government led by ex-speaker Rosen Zhelyazkov, whose project was proposed by the coalition of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party and the Union of Democratic Forces (GERB-SDS), Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported. Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on Monday handed GERB-SDS, which won the early elections, a mandate to form the council of ministers.
The coalition nominated Zhelyazkov for the post of prime minister, who has already presented a project for a minority government, which includes members of the GERB party along with non-party specialists. On Wednesday, the government led by Zhelyazkov was supported by only 68 lawmakers from GERB-SDS and 30 from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party faction. The rest of the legislators voted against. At least 121 votes are required to approve the cabinet. Now President Radev, according to the constitution, must entrust the formation of the government to the MRF party as the second largest group in parliament. The MRF party represents the interests of the Turkish and other ethnic minorities in Bulgaria.
If the second mandate remains unfulfilled, the president will entrust the formation of the government to any parliamentary group of his choice. This will be the third and last attempt. Should it fail, parliament will be dissolved and early elections will be held in the country, which will be the seventh in less than 3.5 years. During the discussion of the GERB-SDS project in parliament, the opinion was voiced that the third mandate could be fulfilled through the formation of an independent technocratic government.