The reason why Bulgaria's "pro-Western" Prime Minister resigned

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov on March 5 officially submitted his resignation to Parliament , paving the way for a crucial vote that will decide whether Bulgaria will have a new government or have to hold early general elections in June, along with European Parliament elections on June 9.

Mr Denkov was nominated for the position of Prime Minister by the “pro-Western” reform bloc consisting of the We Continue the Change Party (PP) and the Bulgarian Democratic Party (DB), in a power-sharing deal with the political bloc led by the center-right GERB Party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

The nomination was subsequently approved by the Bulgarian Parliament, and Mr Denkov and his Cabinet took office on June 6 last year.

Under the deal, which aims to break the cycle of five elections in two years in Bulgaria, the PP-DB bloc, which has 63 seats in the 240-seat parliament, is supported by the GERB-UDF's 69 seats. In return, GERB-UDF representative Mariya Gabriel became the sole Deputy Prime Minister in the Cabinet, concurrently holding the post of Foreign Minister.

The two sides also agreed that after nine months in power, Mr. Denkov would “switch roles” with Ms. Gabriel. Accordingly, the representative of GERB-UDF would become Prime Minister, while the representative of PP-DB would become Deputy Prime Minister.

“This is not a political game but about keeping promises, demonstrating continuity, political fairness and respect for citizens,” Mr. Denkov said in a statement.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov (right) and Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel. According to the agreement, Mr. Denkov and Ms. Gabriel will "swap roles" every 9 months in power. Photo: RFE/RL

However, the automatic “rotation” of the Prime Minister role as above is not allowed under the Bulgarian Constitution. Therefore, Mr. Denkov has now submitted his resignation. After that, his resignation must be discussed and voted in the Parliament.

PP-DB hopes that the vote will be held as early as March 8. If the resignation is approved, the next step will be for Bulgarian President Rumen Radev to consult with parliamentary groups and assign the task to a Prime Minister nominated by the largest parliamentary group in the Bulgarian Parliament.

Negotiations between GERB-UDF and PP-DB regarding the “rotation” are underway. But there are still lingering disputes over who will hold what positions in the next Cabinet.

For example, GERB-UDF believes that after becoming Prime Minister, Ms. Gabriel should continue to hold the position of Foreign Minister, while Mr. Denkov should become Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education.

“The country's stability and sustainable and visible long-term development are top priorities,” the PP-DB said in a statement on March 5.

“Gabriel and I have talked, but as we both have always said until now, you will see the final result when everything is put on the table,” Mr. Denkov said.

Regarding the allocation of Ministries in the new Cabinet, Ms. Gabriel said that before answering the question of who will be the Minister, there are two other important questions – what and how.

“The direction is very clear, the reforms are very clear, the principles are very clear, the working mechanism is very clear,” said the GERB-UDF representative. “After that – how, this is something we will continue to discuss and only then will we raise the question of what the positions are and who holds them,” she said .

Minh Duc (According to Sofia Globe, Xinhua)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/nguyen-nhan-thu-tuong-than-phuong-tay-cua-bulgaria-tu-chuc-a652722.html