Conservatives fail to form government in Bulgaria
Approximately three weeks after the advance parliamentary elections in Bulgaria, the conservative Gerb Party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov failed to form a minority government. Besides the 68 Gerb deputies in the strongly fragmented parliament, only 30 deputies from the Turkish minority party DPS spoke in favor of Borissov's former parliamentary chairman Rossen Jelev as the new prime minister on a Wednesday. 138 parliamentarians voted against it. The prospect of another autumn election is therefore drawing nearer.
At the beginning of June, the people in the poorest country of the EU had elected a new parliament - the sixth time in three years. The Gerb Party emerged as the strongest force from the election, but only holds 68 of the 240 seats in parliament. In the election campaign, Borissov had hinted at the formation of a coalition to end the long-term political instability in the country.
President Rumen Radev must now commission the second strongest force, the liberal DPS, with government formation. Its party leader Delian Peevski is, however, subject to corruption allegations and US and British sanctions. Experts consider it unlikely that the party can form a government due to internal divisions within the DPS.
Previously, the liberal Reform Bloc PP-DP had governed in a loose coalition with the Conservatives. Both coalition partners had put aside their differences in June 2023 to form a pro-European government with rotating prime ministers in the face of the war in Ukraine. However, this fragile union only lasted nine months.
The failure of the Gerb Party to form a minority government in Bulgaria after the parliamentary election has led to the possibility of another election in the autumn. Given the corruption allegations against Delian Peevski, the leader of the second strongest force, the liberal DPS, experts doubt their ability to form a government due to internal divisions within the party.
