We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria proposes ‘unconventional’ solution to political crisis
Leaders of the We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria coalition, which is to receive the second of a succession of mandates to seek to form a government, on July 15 asked President Roumen Radev to back an “unconventional” solution to Bulgaria’s political crisis.
Radev received the WCC-DB delegation after they requested talks with him before he hands over the second mandate.
Opening the meeting, Radev said: “The heat outside has coincided with the height of a hot political summer”. As the 4pm meeting began, the temperature in Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia measured 37 degrees Celsius.
WCC-DB parliamentary leader Nikolai Denkov told Radev that the essence of the current crisis was that the same parties that had come together to overthrow elected governments could not now come together to come up with an elected government.
Earlier in July, the National Assembly rejected the government proposed by the largest parliamentary group, Boiko Borissov’s GERB-UDF.
In recent days, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, formerly Parliament’s second-largest group, has been torn by faction fighting that resulted in it being relegated to being its fourth-largest group. In its place, WCC-DB became the second-largest group.
Denkov said that crises require unconventional solutions.
“We propose a non-standard solution, which is the essence of the fight against corruption. We want to propose a package of laws and solutions with which we can take this missing step, to help clear the political system of corrupt persons,” Denkov said.
“We propose a declaration in which these are put important steps that must be taken and we will seek broad political support for it. That is why we need some time and we are coming to you with an appeal to discuss this possibility,” he said.
Radev responded: “I fully understand that this [second] mandate took you by surprise, this to some extent explains the lack of readiness and the need for time”.
He went on to say that the procedure in the constitution envisaged efforts to get a government elected and did not refer to giving Parliament time to pass laws.
Radev said that the important question was whether there was a majority in the 50th National Assembly to form a government.
He reminded the WCC-DB representatives that their group consisted of 39 MPs (in a 240-seat legislature) and their ideas required a majority.
“That is why it is extremely important to find an answer to this question, and that is why I expect immediate steps to be taken to clarify the situation specifically around finding the necessary support on this issue,” Radev said.
“As a result of your actions and the reactions of other political forces, I will decide when to hand over the second mandate ,” said Radev, who on July 12 had said that he would hand over the mandate this week.
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