The Consultations about the formation of a new cabinet between the GERB party, which won the early Parliamentary elections on October 5, and the other political parties represented at the new National Assembly have lasted for one whole week. GERB’s team of negotiators which was in charge of the consultations has outlined 18 priorities to discuss with the possible coalition partners.

According to most expectations, the consultations between the center-right GERB party and the Bulgarian Socialist Party ended without an agreement for a future coalition. Both parties showed differences on almost all major policies. However, the two biggest political formations in the new 43^rd Parliament united around four main topics: Bulgaria should continue to be part of NATO and the EU, the business environment in this country should improve, the country has to enter the European Banking Union and restore the confidence of the European Commission.

One day before the start of the talks with GERB, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms denied participation in the new cabinet. However, the party would invariably back a possible cabinet of the minority formed by GERB alone. The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) described a possible coalition between GERB and the Patriotic Front as unprincipled. It became clear after the consultations that GERB and the MRF share the same view on most topics. However, GERB made it clear that it would not enter into a coalition with this political party after 14 months of street protests against policy behind the scenes personified by Delyan Peevski and the MRF.

After nearly eight hours of talks between GERB and the rightist Reformist Bloc, the negotiations were temporarily interrupted. GERB representatives pointed to two main reasons which made them suspend the talks about a possible coalition cabinet: the lack of legal guarantee about the stability of the Reformist Bloc as a political formation and theBloc’s condition, according to which all political parties which took part in the former government - the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Ataka and Bulgaria without Censorship should not be allowed to join the new cabinet.

GERB and the Patriotic Front agreed to sign an Agreement for Common Participation in the country’s government based on a specific program.

GERB and Bulgaria without Censorship did not reach any agreement regarding a future coalition due to completely different views on given issues. The nationalistic Ataka party did not show up for consultation, as GERB team refused to let the Bulgarian media broadcast live the planned political consultations, as the rest of the counsultations' rounds were not aired either.

GERB’s team and the smallest political party in the new National Assembly - the center-left Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV) found similarity on most topics. However, the consultations between these parties outlined some insuperable differences regarding the tax system, the development of the nuclear power engineering sector and the role of the state in public life.

The first round of consultations regarding the formation of a new coalition government did not give a clear answer as to what the new Bulgarian cabinet would look like. The negotiations are to continue this week as well. GERB is to invite to new expert consultations the Patriotic Front and ABV and perhaps the Bulgarian Socialist Party. A new round of negotiations is also expected to kick off between GERB and the Reformist Bloc, too.

On Monday GERB is expected to summon a national forum to the participation of representatives of its Executive Committee, town mayors, Chairmen of Municipal Councils, newly-elected MPs and MEPs, in order to discuss its next political steps. “We will inform our colleagues about the outcome of the discussions and about our similarities on given issues. However, it is still early to speak about a future cabinet”, GERB’s team of negotiators said.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov