We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria to refuse mandate to seek to form government

The We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (WCC-DB) coalition, which has become Parliament’s second-largest group and is entitled to receive the next mandate to seek to form a government, said on July 18 that on receipt of the mandate, it would immediately return it unfulfilled.

On July 15, WCC-DB met President Roumen Radev at their request and asked him to delay handing over the mandate while they sought support from other parliamentary groups for an anti-corruption legislative package.

WCC-DB said that they would proceed with attempting to form a government only if there was sufficient support for this package.

WCC-DB’s Bozhidar Bozhanov told reporters in Parliament that it had become clear that there was no support for the group’s approach, of anti-corruption laws first and then government talks.

“This puts us in a situation where we cannot implement the second mandate and we are ready the moment the president invites us to go and return it unfulfilled,” Bozhanov said.

At meetings on July 17, WCC-DB received refusals of support from Boiko Borissov’s GERB-UDF, Vuzrazhdane, the Bulgarian Socialist Party and ITN. WCC-DB did not hold talks with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which had been Parliament’s second-largest group until a split that relegated it to fourth place.

As the head of state, Radev has a free choice in deciding to which parliamentary group to hand the third and final mandate to seek to form a government.

WCC-DB’s position on the third mandate is that the group is ready for talks, but only after seeing who receives the mandate and what its proposal is.

(Photo: parliament.bg)

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