GRUEV’s Initiative to Restart Coalition Talks: Parties at Odds Over Premier Candidate
Bulgaria‘s GERB party has taken the initiative to reopen coalition talks for cabinet formation, but only with the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and ITN, the party announced on Wednesday, following their unilateral suspension of negotiations over the weekend.
However, GERB is open to restarting talks with "Democratic Bulgaria" (DB) if the faction accepts Rossen Jeliazkov’s candidacy for prime minister. The appointment of Borislav Saratrov as Chief Prosecutor and Georgi Cholakov as Head of the Supreme Administrative Court has officially become a bargaining chip in the negotiating process.
GERB has proposed to support changes to the electoral code and the Law on the Judiciary if DB agrees to Rossen Jeliazkov’s premiership. In a statement, GERB said, "The negotiating team of GERB will conduct talks to support the cabinet and the formation of a majority, which will then proceed to consider and vote on the changes to the Electoral Code and the Law on the Judiciary."
Earlier in the day, unofficial information suggested that GERB had invited all parties for renewed talks. However, GERB later sent an official statement confirming that talks would only continue with ITN and BSP, following GERB’s endorsement of the law projects aimed at amending the judicial law in the National Assembly’s agenda. Two hours later, GERB reversed its stance, linking the Saratrov appointment with Jeliazkov’s premiership.
GERB has insisted on intensive negotiations to finalize the coalition agreement and agree on a prime ministerial candidate, aiming to reach a conclusion by Friday. Last week, GERB announced its intention to withdraw from government talks, citing disagreements over the cabinet’s personnel composition and the prime minister candidate’s identity. The party has proposed Rossen Jeliazkov for the premiership.
GERB’s decision surprised other negotiating parties. Democratic Bulgaria stated that the coalition agreement was almost finalized, and the expectation was to discuss the premiership candidate next. Both ITN, BSP, and DB have repeatedly emphasized that the prime minister should be an expert figure without a clear political orientation.
On Tuesday, GERB indicated willingness to compromise by backing the PPDB law project aimed at removing Borislav Saratrov from the position of Chief Prosecutor and Georgi Cholakov from the Supreme Administrative Court. DB, in turn, joined GERB in rejecting the caretaker government’s budget law.
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