GERB-UDF’s Zhelyazkov: Nomination of a government depends on Dogan faction of MRF

A day before being due to be handed a mandate by President Roumen Radev to seek to get a government elected, Rossen Zhelyazkov of Boiko Borissov’s GERB-UDF coalition said that proceeding to nominate one would depend on whether the coalition receives support from the Ahmed Dogan loyalists of the Democracy, Rights and Freedoms parliamentary group.

As the largest group in the 51st National Assembly, that was elected in October 2024, GERB-UDF is entitled to be the first to receive a mandate to try to get a government elected.

GERB-UDF has been negotiating with the Bulgarian Socialist Party – United Left and ITN groups, but needs to make up the numbers to surpass the threshold for the parliamentary election of a government.

Borissov’s group has added Dogan’s group to its bargaining, but in recent days Dogan has raised the price for support by demanding deputy ministerial and district governor posts, a step not envisaged at an earlier stage and which has not been accepted by GERB-UDF, BSP – United Left and ITN.

Zhelyazkov, a former Speaker who GERB-UDF has named as its intended candidate to be Prime Minister, told reporters on January 14: “You know, until everything is decided – nothing is decided, so for now, accept that nothing is decided because everything is not decided”.

He said that talks with the Dogan group were continuing and “the speculation will continue perhaps until tomorrow”, referring to the meeting with Radev on January 15 at noon.

According to Zhelyazkov, the agreement between GERB-UDF, BSP – United Left and ITN was “ready for signing” but “it depends on whether we have the necessary majority to form a government”.

He said that the names of potential proposed cabinet ministers had been finalised but GERB-UDF would present the list to Radev only if it had a majority in Parliament to get it elected.

As the political drama over the election – or not – of a government continued, so did that of the future of the post of Prosecutor-General.

Reformists the We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria have been campaigning to prevent acting Prosecutor-General Borislav Sarafov from being elected to permanent holder of the post by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) at a meeting on January 16.

Diverse amendments to the Judiciary Act were approved at first reading by the National Assembly last week, and reached second-reading stage at committee level on January 14.

At the legal affairs committee meeting, several proposals that would have barred Sarafov and made possible related reforms were voted down. Among them was an amendment that would have prevented the SJC from proceeding with the election of the Prosecutor-General and other top judiciary posts on the grounds that the SJC’s term of office has expired.

Proposals defeated included those by WCC-DB that would have prevented Sarafov from continuing to act in office if not elected, and that would have put a six-month term limit on an acting Prosecutor-General. Sarafov was appointed acting Prosecutor-General in June 2023.

As approved by the committee – and still subject to a second-reading vote in the House – the procedure of appointing a Prosecutor-General should be stopped, if the President does not decree the appointment before the Judiciary Act amendments are promulgated in the State Gazette.

Radev opposes Sarafov becoming Prosecutor-General, but as approved by the committee, the amendments would not stop Sarafov from continuing in an acting capacity or again being a candidate Prosecutor-General.

It remains to be seen what the final form of the amendments will be, when the second-reading stage is reached in the House, possibly on January 15.

(Archive photo of Zhelyazkov: parliament.bg)

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