Reformist Bloc awaits negotiations on coalition, Kanev again opposes Borissov as PM
Radan Kanev, leader of one of the Reformist Bloc’s constituent parties, says he sees “no mandate” for GERB leader Boiko Borissov to be prime minister after the provisional results of the October 5 elections, and says it is obvious that the Bulgarian people voted for a coalition.
The Reformist Bloc, a centre-right group of five parties, has been seen as the most compatible possible coalition partner of GERB. But on this very issue, the bloc and GERB have sniped at each other for months and there are internal divisions in the Reformist Bloc on the issue.
Kanev said that it was clear that the Reformist Bloc had achieved a result double that which had been predicted by opinion polling agencies.
He added that the bloc was, along with GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, one of only three parties that would get further votes from abroad.
The Reformist :Bloc was firmly against a single-party government, Kanev said. While he said that he saw no mandate for Borissov to be prime minister, he added that this would be the subject of talks.
GERB’s showing in the elections was far below the ambitions of Borissov’s party, according to Kanev.
Meglena Kouneva, leader of another of the Reformist Bloc’s constituent parties, said that it was important that Parliament would monitor compliance with the law, and as for forming a government, there was a very clear constitutional procedure, that the mandate to attempt to form a government was first handed to the political force that won the most seats.
Asked when the bloc would split up, Kouneva said that everything was fine and the bloc was proceeding with good results.
Asked whether the bloc would support a Borissov government, she said, “let us observe the constitutional procedure and then comment on who we support”.
Bozhidar Lukarski, leader of one of the bloc’s constituent parties, said that the results were still very preliminary and the bloc could only be in a centre-right coalition.
Asked if a stable government was possible given projections that there would be eight parties in the next Parliament, he said, “at first sight, no, but there are still talks ahead.”
Lukarski also said that he expected that as results came in from polling stations outside Bulgaria, the Reformist Bloc’s results would increase.
