Borissov: The government is a zombie and parliament has no legitimacy
Referring scathingly to Plamen Oresharski as the ex-prime minister, the government as “a zombie, dead” and decrying the current parliament as lacking any legitimacy, GERB leader Boiko Borissov underlined that in Bulgaria’s European Parliament elections, the government has lost a vote of confidence.
Borissov was speaking at a May 26 news conference, as official results from the Central Election Commission showed that, with almost all ballots counted, his centre-right party had won 30.47 per cent, trouncing the governing Bulgarian Socialist Party which trailed lamely with 19.05 per cent.
Bulgaria had a new political status quo, said Borissov, who also referred to the increase in the vote for the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and the results of the European Parliament confirming the places in Bulgarian politics of Nikolai Barekov’s Bulgaria Without Censorship (BWC, which got about 10.64 per cent) and the centre-right Reformist Bloc (6.41 per cent).
Borissov spoke with barely controlled passion on the theme of this being the second time in a year that his party had won the largest single share of votes, and his remarks were made against a background of the BSP and its leader Sergei Stanishev being in denial about their defeat.
Referring to Oresharski, who was appointed in May 2013 by the ruling axis to sit in the prime minister’s chair in the BSP cabinet, Borissov asked, “How can Oresharski go to work today? He has no moral right to go into that (cabinet) building”.
Borissov said that given that there had been a “vote of no confidence” in the government, “it is reasonable that they should get the idea that they have to go. How to convey this more clearly?”
He wanted to ask BSP leader Sergei Stanishev how long he intended to stay to destroy the state and his own party, said Borissov, who later repeated his quip that – given the long series of defeats to which Stanishev has led the BSP – the GERB leader prayed to God to grant that Stanishev would be the leader of the BSP for many years to come.
At the news conference, election campaign chief Tsvetan Tsvetanov offered figures showing support for GERB through most age groups, across both genders, in all major cities and towns, while Tomislav Donchev, GERB’s ticket leader, said that the party had achieved its success in spite of dirty tricks public relations campaigning, vote-buying and intimidation by its rivals.
Borissov again returned to his frequent references to the BSP election videos that had allegorically depicted the BSP defeating GERB at chess, boxing and fencing.
Instead, he said, “it was a total knock-out for the BSP”. Instead of relying on “funny videos”, GERB had conducted its campaign through all towns and villages. “That’s a campaign,” Borissov said.
Replying to questions from reporters, Borissov ruled out accepting a mandate to govern within the framework of the current National Assembly, dismissing parliament as illegitimate given the new political status quo.
The only option now was the calling of immediate ahead-of-term elections and the formation of a caretaker cabinet, Borissov said.
