SOFIA: Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev will convene parliament on May 21, in an attempt to have a government formed quickly and end a political impasse in the European Union’s poorest country.
Under Bulgarian law, the president must call the assembly within a month of an election. Only then can he ask the largest group — centre-right GERB — to try to form a government.
The election on May 12 produced a deeply divided parliament and all other parties are refusing to work with GERB.
“The biggest challenge now is to restore the trust of the people, which can only happen through a working parliament and government,” Plevneliev said yesterday, after talks with leaders of the four parties which will be represented in the assembly.
GERB’s government was forced to quit in February after street protests over living standards and corruption, and has been damaged by scandals over wiretapping and illegal ballots. Anew government is needed quickly to address popular anger, negotiate EU funds and draft a budget.
But GERB wants the vote held again because other parties held media conferences the day before the election, when campaigning should have finished. Legal experts said a ruling on the rerun from the constitutional court may take months, by which time a Socialist-proposed broad alliance would probably be up and running.
Reuters
