Parliament rejects GERB-SDS cabinet proposal

After a heated debate, Parliament rejected the proposed GERB-SDS cabinet with Rosen Zhelyazkov as Prime Minister. It was supported by 98 MPs, with 138 voting against and two abstaining. Zhelyazkov, representing the first political force in Parliament, received the first exploratory mandate from President Rumen Radev on July 1 and immediately returned it fulfilled. The "minority cabinet" he announced consisted of a deputy prime minister and 19 ministers, seven of them acting ministers in the caretaker cabinet with Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev.

"The composition of the government I have proposed has the main task of restoring effective governance. For the past three years, Bulgaria has held elections every six months on average. Society has become apathetic, and only the most committed voters go to the polls," Zhelyazkov said, arguing for the need to support this cabinet and stressing that the ministerial candidates were proven politicians.