After elections
Bulgaria: Liberal Party tasked with forming government
A giant Bulgarian flag in front of the National Assembly building in Sofia. photo
© Valentina Petrova/AP/dpa
Former Bulgarian Education and Science Minister Nikolai Denkov has been nominated prime minister and now has seven days to form a government.
Three months after new elections in EU country Bulgaria, the liberal party PP, which was in power last, has been given a government mandate.
Former Education and Science Minister Nikolai Denkov, nominated for the post of Prime Minister, accepted the mandate from President Rumen Radev on Tuesday. This was the second of a total of three possible attempts to form a government after the early parliamentary elections on October 2, 2022. A transitional cabinet is currently in power in Sofia.
Denkow now has seven days to set up a government. The professor and parliamentarian promised the formation of a minority government. The second largest parliamentary party, the PP (“We are continuing the change”), does not have a majority on its own, as it only has 53 of the 240 MPs. A liberal-socialist coalition government led by the PP was overthrown in June 2022 by a vote of no confidence in parliament. In December 2022, an initial attempt to form a government by the centre-right party GERB, which won the October election, failed due to a lack of a majority in parliament.
If Denkow’s attempt to form a government and a third attempt also fail, a new parliament would have to be elected – for the fifth time since April 2021. Economic and financial experts warn of such a development – not least because Bulgaria wants to introduce the euro at the beginning of 2024.