Bulgaria, in the midst of a political crisis, is heading for new elections in early October, the fourth in a year and a half, after the failure on Wednesday of the last attempt to form a new government.
The Socialists intended to present a program for a minority coalition lasting six months, but Parliament refused to put the project to the vote, thus indirectly rejecting it.
“
In this situation, tomorrow (Thursday) we will return our mandate (of government) to President Roumen Radev
,” the head of the Socialist parliamentary group, Georgy Svilensky, told the press.
The reform party of outgoing Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, overthrown by a motion of censure in June, had also failed in early July to muster a majority.
The conservative Gerb formation of former Prime Minister Boïko Borissov did not even try to find support, judging an early election unavoidable.
The Head of State will now dissolve Parliament, appoint an interim government and set the date for the ballot within two months of the dissolution.
Internal tensions amid economic difficulties
Bulgaria has been plagued since the summer of 2020 by instability triggered by massive demonstrations against Boïko Borissov, then in power almost without interruption since 2009. At the end of the third legislative elections of the year, a coalition of four parties had been formed in December on the initiative of the energetic and pro-European Kiril Petkov.
But this disparate alliance ultimately did not survive internal tensions, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, against a backdrop of economic difficulties: disagreement over military aid to kyiv, inflation at its highest for 24 years, disruption of Russian gas deliveries. ..
Read alsoBulgaria: the ruling party fails to form a new government
In the absence of a stable government, this poorest member country of the European Union risks having difficulty accessing the post-Covid recovery funds, amounting to 5.7 billion euros, and joining the zone. euro in 2024. According to two polls in July, the next Parliament will be just as fragmented and the composition of a government delicate.
The Gerb party and that of Kiril Petkov are at the top of the voting intentions.
