Bulgaria will go to new early elections in the coming months, the seventh in the last three years. The third and final attempt foreseen by the constitution to form a new government, after the early vote on 9 June, held together with the European elections, has also failed. The representative of ‘There is a People Like This’ (Itn), a populist formation that came sixth in the June elections, handed the mandate back to President Rumen Radev.
Previously, the representative of the People’s Family Party GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria), winner of the last election, and then the liberal party Let’s Continue the Change (PP), had failed. President Radev will now have to appoint an interim prime minister to lead the Balkan country to new elections, which must be held within two months.
Bulgaria, a former Soviet bloc country that is part of NATO and joined the EU in 2007, has long been affected by strong political instability due to a highly fragmented Parliament, which prevents the formation of majorities capable of giving the country a solid and credible government. “The spiral of inconclusive elections continues and not only causes irritation, but also unleashes a series of destructive processes,” Radev said. “I call for a meaningful political debate and for fair play in the coming weeks. Otherwise, we are condemned to repeat procedures that more and more people consider useless,” the president said.
The June elections were triggered by the collapse in March of a coalition that included former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov’s GERB party, which had held power for much of the previous 15 years, and the PP party. GERB came first in the June vote, winning 68 seats, while the PP party won 39. Both parties are broadly pro-EU and pro-market, but have been torn apart by ongoing bickering and personal rivalries. L
Bulgaria, the European Union’s poorest member state and one of its most corrupt, needs a period of government stability to improve the flow of EU funds to its ailing infrastructure. Political deadlock is also hampering its efforts to join the euro and participate fully in Europe’s open-border Schengen area.
