Bulgaria’s eve-of-election no-confidence debate cancelled for lack of quorum

As had been widely expected, the May 23 sitting of Bulgaria’s National Assembly for a debate on the motion of no confidence tabled by centre-right opposition party GERB in the Bulgarian Socialist Party cabinet ended before it began, for lack of a quorum.

Only a handful of cabinet ministers turned up, to be greeted with chants of “resignation!” from GERB MPs.

GERB tabled the motion over government failures in energy policy. The parties of the ruling axis, the BSP and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, accused former prime minister Boiko Borissov’s party of trying to use the National Assembly as a platform just before Bulgarians vote in European Parliament elections on May 25.

A first attempt to secure a quorum, soon after the scheduled starting time of 10am, found only 109 MPs present – the vast majority from GERB, eight from the BSP, seven from the MRF and four from far-right ultra-nationalists Ataka.

After a two-minute adjournment, a second attempt also failed, and the sitting was cancelled. GERB MPs shouted at their rivals: “cowards!”.

(Photo: parliament.bg)

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