Bulgarian President refuses to decree caretaker government over interior minister nominee
In an unprecedented development, Bulgarian head of state President Roumen Radev has refused to decree the caretaker government presented by Prime Minister-designate Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva because of the inclusion of controversial figure Kalin Stoyanov as the interior minister nominee.
Stoyanov, currently caretaker Interior Minister in the Dimitar Glavchev interim administration, has been the subject of calls by the We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria coalition for him to be excluded from the next caretaker government.
At a ceremony at 11am on August 19, Grancharova-Kozhareva – named as Prime Minister-designate by Radev on August 9 – met his deadline for presenting a proposed caretaker government. The idea had been for her to present the list on August 19 so that on August 20 Radev could decree an election date two months hence, on October 20.
The list she read out consisted largely of holdovers from the Glavchev administration, including Stoyanov.
Radev responded by saying that he would not decree the line-up because of Stoyanov, and said that he would give Grancharova-Kozhareva until 3pm to return to the presidency with a different proposed interior minister.
“I paid attention when handing over the mandate – to guarantee the calming of the political situation and the holding of fair elections,” Radev said.
“Obviously, this is impossible if Minister Kalin Stoyanov retains his post. Is Kalin Stoyanov more important than the formation of a government and is it because of him that you ready to take responsibility for a potential constitutional crisis?” he said.
She replied immediately that she had consulted Interior Ministry top officials and trade unions and was convinced that he should get the post.
Radev said that in this case, he was refusing to sign the decree. A special sitting of Parliament for the swearing-in of the caretaker government that had been envisaged for August 20 would not go ahead, and the early parliamentary elections that had been envisaged for October 20 would be held at a later date, Radev said.
The Glavchev caretaker government would remain in office until a new caretaker government was appointed, he said.
As amended in 2023, Bulgaria’s constitution provides the head of state with a set list of office-bearers from which to choose a caretaker Prime Minister. Radev criticised the National Assembly for further limiting his options by failing to elect replacements where there were vacancies.
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