President Rumen Radev’s 2-day consultations with representatives of the political forces from the 49^th National Assembly, as part of the constitutional procedure before a mandate is handed over for the formation of a government, are over.

At the first of the three meetings scheduled for today, the representatives of the nationalist party Vazrazhdane stated that a successful rotation spells the unsuccessful development of Bulgaria, saying that the sooner early elections take place the better.

• Vazrazhdane accuses President Radev of not opposing the euro

After the leader of Vazrazhdane Kostadin Kostadinov, Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader Korneliya Ninova also stated that a functioning government cannot be formed by the current parliament because the partners from the “assemblage” are unable to split the positions in the country. Addressing the president, she called for the holding of early elections, saying that the current government was detrimental to Bulgaria, had betrayed the expectations of the voters and had brought agony to the country which can only be put a stop to by early election.

At the last of the series of meetings – with the smallest political force in parliament There Is Such a People (ITN), in answer to the question by President Radev what possibility they see of forming a government within the current parliament, the head of ITN’s parliamentary group Toshko Yordanov stated that the negotiations currently underway on the future government were tantamount to backstage haggling for the distribution of positions, money and regulatory bodies. “It is better to have early elections, we think the correct approach is an expert government with broad parliamentary support, with programmes for the different sectors with set deadlines, not chit-chat,” Toshko Yordanov said.

Once the consultations are over, President Radev is to announce when he is going to hand the first political force in parliament – GERB/SDS a mandate for the formation of a government. The Constitution does not set down any specific deadline for this. However, once GERB/SDS receive the mandate, they will have 7 days in which to propose a composition of the Council of Ministers, or to hand back the mandate unfulfilled. Analysts say that if a government is not formed on this mandate, the chances of a government being formed on a possible second or third mandate is even slimmer, and the chances of an early election increase.

Photos: BTA