Bulgaria’s political drama: Borissov says his party does not want elections triggered

GERB leader Boiko Borissov and Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov said on October 17 that the party does not want elections, in comments a few hours after Movement for Rights and Freedoms leader, Magnitsky Act-sanctioned Delyan Peevski, reiterated that the country was not going to elections.

These statements came amid the latest day of the current political drama triggered by Borissov on October 14 with his party’s poor perfomance in local elections in Pazardzhik last weekend as the catalyst.

Borissov, speaking at a meeting of GERB’s executive committee attended by the party’s Cabinet ministers, mayors and MPs, said that GERB intended holding talks with Peevski’s party on involving it in government.

While technically the Zhelyazkov government is a minority one, Peevski’s party is key to the existing de facto ruling majority.

Borissov said that the only alternative to a majority with four formations is early elections in February 2026, which GERB does not want.

Instead of his MPs attending sittings of Parliament – which on October 17 for the third consecutive day failed to secure a quorum – Borissov sent them to their local structures to assess the state of the party.

Borissov said that GERB and its minority partners in government, the Bulgarian Socialist Party – United Left and populist ITN, should meet MRF – New Beginning to start an official partnership.

“We now need to hold a meeting with the New Beginning. Let’s meet with them and speak. Partnership requires that before you make a decision on a given topic, you ask the partners,” Borisov said.

“You have to talk to Peevski straight in the eye – this, this, this – can, this – can’t. Agree? Yes is yes, no is no. The rest of us who don’t want this to happen should give another option. I don’t have another option,” he said.

“If we reach an agreement with the remaining parties, we will act.

“If you have another proposal, tell us,” Borissov told the meeting. “Shall we continue? This is the way. We cannot create floating majorities with these.”

“If the party wants elections, we go to elections immediately, but they don’t want to,” Borissov said.

“That’s why Zhelyazkov, you meet with the ITN and the BSP. If they are not against it, talk to MRF-New Beginning, you invite them too and talk. If they are not OK, we will not have such a meeting,” he said.

Borissov said that the negotiations should be held on October 20, in the Parliament building, “so as not to annoy with meetings in other places”.

At the start of the meeting, Zhelyazkov said that as the leading political force, GERB-UDF could easily raise the issue of elections.

However, they would take place at the beginning of a year of challenges due to the adoption of the first state Budget for Bulgaria as a member of the euro zone, as well as in an uncertain political environment.

“No, it is not time for elections,” Zhelyazkov said.

He said that both the adoption of the Budget and all the policies of the cabinet need a clear and predictable parliamentary majority that would support the government for a long time to come.

Zhelyazkov said that the responsibility for the Cabinet should be borne equally by everyone, not just GERB-UDF.

If such an understanding is not reached in the National Assembly, then elections will be held. “But elections will not solve anything,” he said.

Borissov did not give any details about possible Cabinet reshuffles, although he mentioned that he did not consider the time appropriate for such changes.

But he suddenly said that he was going to demand the resignation of Interior Minister Daniel Mitov because of the allegations surrounding the elections in Pazardzhik, but the head of the Interior Ministry regional directorate in the city had stepped down and Mitov had “saved his skin”.

Peevski, speaking to reporters in Parliament on October 17, said: “There will be no elections. I have said this a long time ago”.

“I can tell Uncle Roumen one thing. He should send back the catering and champagne, the party is cancelled,” Peevski said, referring to President Roumen Radev, who routinely criticises the ruling majority.

BSP leader Atanas Zafirov said on October 16 that the party was ready for negotiations and was willing to take any steps if doing so made political sense, but the talks and any decisions could not come at any price.

On October 17, in a post on Facebook, opposition We Continue the Change leader Assen Vassilev, commenting on Borissov’s statements, said that in a 25-minute one-hander play, “Boiko Borissov completely capitulated to Peevski”.

Ivailo Mirchev, co-leader of Yes Bulgaria – part of the We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria coalition – said that Borissov had handed the mandate to govern the country to Peevski.

“Obviously, it’s a coalition of four parties. Obviously, one of these parties is MRF-New Beginning. Whether it will have ministers or not is no longer so important, because Borissov himself said: ‘When Peevski asks me for something, I fulfill it’,” Mirchev said.

“The truth is that there is a huge danger for our country, because we are heading towards a soft dictatorship, we are heading towards MRF-New Beginning finally taking over all power in Bulgaria,” he said.

(Photo of Zhelyazkov and Borissov via GERB’s website)