Bulgarian President calls for higher turnout at May 12 election
Bulgarian President Rossen Plevneliev said on April 4 that he hoped turnout at the May 12 parliamentary elections would be higher than at previous elections to prevent the worst-case scenario of parliamentary parties being unable to form a government.
Speaking after meeting representatives of pre-electoral mission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Plevneliev said that avoiding such a scenario, which would spark a new political crisis, required a higher turnout by Bulgarian voters.
“The next National Assembly needs to start work as soon as possible, because we need a working Parliament that would pass urgent measures to reverse the economic downturn and anti-monopoly legislation,” Plevneliev said.
Bulgaria’s Parliament was prorogued last month after the country’s three largest parties turned down the opportunity to form a new cabinet following the resignation of prime minister Boiko Borissov in February.
Parliamentary elections were brought forward by about two months, but, in the absence of a sitting Parliament, the caretaker cabinet headed by Prime Minister Marin Raykov had only limited levers to influence economic policy.
The bad economy was the main reason of civil unrest and the root cause of the political crisis, Plevneliev said.
The PACE mission, visiting Bulgaria on April 4-5, is also scheduled to meet Raykov, the head of the Central Electoral Commission Krassimira Medarova, the floor leaders of the parties in the previous legislature, as well as representatives of the parties registered for the May 12 elections, the Presidency said in a statement.
(Photo: president.bg)
