Poll: Bulgaria’s government failing on corruption, inflation, foreign policy
Seventy-five per cent of Bulgarians believe that the current government is failing in the fight against corruption, inflation and on foreign policy, according to a poll by the Alpha Research agency done for Bulgarian National Television’s weekly Referendum talk show.
The poll, the results of which were broadcast on the evening of June 14, saw respondents split on whether and when the government should resign.
The poll found that 32.2 per cent believed that it was best for the government to resign as soon as possible, 24.3 per cent held that the government should remain in place at least until this autumn, while 23.9 per cent said that it should complete its full term.
The respondents, asked to score the performance of the seven groups in Parliament on a scale of six, awarded rather low marks, with the Bulgarian Socialist Party the highest at 3.42, followed by We Continue the Change at 3.34 and GERB at 3.25.
Of those polled, 53.3 per cent did not think that it would be possible to form a new government within the current Parliament, while 41.6 per cent thought that it would be possible.
The Alpha Research poll results came on the eve of the GERB-UDF coalition tabling in Parliament a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Kiril Petkov’s government, on the grounds of “the government’s failure in financial and economic policy”.
“The breakdown of the 25-year-old consensus on sound and disciplined fiscal policy has turned the current government into a threat to the country’s financial stability and national security,” according to the motives stated in the motion.
“The common economic and public finance policy (economic, energy, social, etc.) already pose a risk to the stability of the state and the well-being of Bulgarian citizens and businesses,” the document says.
The motion was signed by all 59 MPs from the GERB-UDF parliamentary group.
The Movement for Rights and Freedoms has strongly indicated that it will support the motion, while pro-Kremlin Vuzrazhdane, the smallest group in the current Parliament, said that it would back it.
After five defections from its ranks, Slavi Trifonov’s ITN party, which has left the ruling coalition, now has 20 MPs.
Should all GERB-UDF, MRF, ITN and Vuzrazhdane MPs vote in favour of the no-confidence motion, that would add up to 126 MPs in the 240-seat Parliament.
Hristo Ivanov, the co-leader of Democratic Bulgaria, a partner in the ruling coalition, told reporters on June 15: “In the end it is a matter of a decision on the conscience of each MP whether we will throw the country into a political crisis and a serious risk of the fourth elections within 13 months, which obviously cannot lead to anything better than what we have”.
“Against the background of the war in Ukraine and the crises in the country, this is irresponsible,” Ivanov said.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
Please support The Sofia Globe by clicking on the orange button below to sign up to become a patron on patreon.com.
For as little as three euro a month or the equivalent in other currencies, becoming a patron means supporting independent journalism, and getting access to exclusive content:
