Bulgaria’s President Radev: ‘As of today, I am officially withdrawing my confidence in the government’
In a live televised address to the nation on February 4, Bulgarian head of state President Roumen Radev said that he was officially withdrawing his confidence in the government.
The government was not acting in the interest of the citizens and was responsible for what Radev called the “acute crisis in Bulgarian society”.
Radev, in office for just more than three years after being elected on a ticket backed by the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party, has been a frequent critic of the coalition government headed by Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, which took office in May 2017.
“This government and administration are leading to the collapse of the state and depriving us of our future as a nation. All of this must be brought to an end. As of today, I am officially withdrawing my confidence in the government, which is not acting in the interest of Bulgarian citizens and is responsible for the acute crisis in our society.”
“For three years, I have been calling on the government to act responsibly and effectively in the interest of Bulgarian citizens,” Radev said.
He said that he did not do so as a political opponent, but as a head of state with thought and concern for Bulgaria.
“Today we are witnessing an acute crisis in governance at all levels, a lack of will to reform and fight corruption,” he said.
Radev cited the water shortage crisis in the town of Pernik, for which he said the cabinet refused to take political responsibility.
Entire systems and institutions in Bulgaria were in paralysis, he said.
Radev accused the Cabinet of quietly pushing for reform of the Currency Board – the mechanism put in place in July 1997 that pegs local currency the lev to the euro – while poverty and inequality were deepening.
“Even sovereignty is being traded for the sake of personal political survival,” Radev said.
