Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev said Monday that he will have to call early elections in March if all attempts to form a government fail, although he acknowledged that new elections run the risk of a low turnout.
In this sense, Radev has assured that after the elections he will be guided by two principles, that of doing everything possible to have a «regular government» with time for dialogue and to pass important laws, and on the other hand, that of specifying in time the consultations so that, in case of failure, early elections can be held not earlier than March.
Radev has also taken the opportunity to reproach the Bulgarian Parliament for not having reached agreements on issues, such as the recovery and sustainability plan and other important laws. «This is not what citizens expect,» he said.
«There are no small or big parties (…) because the responsibility is common (…) What we are all waiting for is the consolidation of a successful formula to create a government that will solve the important problems,» said Radev, who has criticized the opposition for going in the direction of «confrontation».
For his part, the former Minister of Justice and current leader of Democratic Bulgaria, Hristo Ivanov, acknowledged after meeting with Radev the difficulty of reaching an agreement to form a government and pointed out that at least three parties will be needed, reports the Novinite agency.
«It is clear that the Bulgarian political system is going to fragment and we cannot expect, neither in this parliament nor in the following ones, the emergence of a single entity that will take all the power. The key from now on will always be dialogue and the search for some forms of cooperation,» Ivanov assessed.
«It is obvious that an election in March is much better than in February or January, but efforts must be made to have a government that can be a government of reforms, not a government of revenge,» Ivanov stressed, who put on the table his party’s priorities: judicial reform, a firm stance on the Ukrainian conflict and greater public investments.
So far, Radev has held consultations with the largest parliamentary group, the conservative Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), as well as with the centrist We Continue with Change, with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, with the Socialists and the ultra-nationalists of Rebirth.
