The consultations of President Rumen Radev with the parliamentary parties have begun. GERB-Union of Democratic Forces (GERB-UDF) were the first to come to him. The delegation is led by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in resignation Maria Gabriel and includes the negotiating team consisting of Denitsa Sacheva, Temenuzka Petkova and Raya Nazaryan. After the talks with them, the head of state received the delegation of the We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (WCC-DB), headed by the resigned Prime Minister Academician Nikolay Denkov.
The main question that Radev asked both coalitions is whether they need more time to finalize the negotiations between them and if these negotiations happen to be unsuccessful, how they envision the future governance of Bulgaria.
For Gabriel, it is important not to lose sight of the interests of Bulgaria
The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in resignation Maria Gabriel stated that for her it is very important to have a dialogue, to say good and critical things. "It is important not to lose sight of Bulgaria's interest. We need stability and calm, but it must be based on principle. It must be based on fundamental principles and values," she said.
Negotiations continue. We have common points, the conversations are constructive. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in resignation Maria Gabriel after the consultations with President Rumen Radev.
Gabriel admitted that they also had differences with WCC-DB. "It is for this reason that we need some more time for negotiations to overcome these differences," she added.
President Rumen Radev welcomed the delegation of the WCC-DB, led by the resigned Prime Minister Academician Nikolay Denkov, saying that they were mainly responsible for the management of the country in the last nine months, "as you agreed with your partners to officially have only one representative in the Council of Ministers". He reminded that the PP-DB secured the firm support of the MRF for the changes in the Constitution.
The head of state asked the WCC-DB representatives whether they are inclined to continue on the same path they took nine months ago when they formed the government or not, based on the accumulated experience, they are inclined to review the relations with both partners and the government.
"Do you think that there will be a mechanical merger of the memorandum that you proposed with the GERB-UDF agreement, or are we going to some fundamentally new document to have sustainability and predictability of a future administration," stated Radev.
The resigned Prime Minister Academician Denkov stated that nine months ago they took responsibility, realizing the risk that this responsibility would cause political damage. “It was worth it. Now after nine months, after the adoption of two budgets, after long-awaited changes to the Constitution, with the development of the investment projects that were stuck for years, with the unblocking of the main problems that were related to the energy transition and providing financing to those affected regions of this "Green Transition", we can say that this effort was worth it. We suffered political damage, we suffered it not only because the opposition behaved like an opposition, but also because other political forces decided it was easier to use a populist approach to gain popularity at the expense of the government," the prime minister said in resignation. He expressed hope that after time all this will be realized.
Academician Denkov admitted that relations with partners are complicated and no one expected the opposite. "For this reason, we consider it a correct act that we have put two documents on the table for negotiations. Whether we proceed and how we proceed depends on what the governance arrangement looks like from now on," the prime minister stressed in resignation.
He still expects GERB-UDF and WCC-DB to find an agreement. "This agreement should lead to the realization of the first mandate. If we do not find an agreement for the first mandate, this most likely means that we will go to elections," stressed Academician Denkov.
He has assured the president that WCC-DB want the rotation to take place. "Also, if there is no agreement, we are ready to go to elections. However, this is not a good option," added Academician Denkov.
MRF fulfilled its commitments. If there is a rotation, we will be a factor of stability
The state must have stability and predictability. If the two ruling coalitions - GERB-UDF and WCC-DB, come to an understanding, that there is a rotation and a next cabinet, we will continue to be a factor of stability. This was stated by the co-chairman of the MRF Jevdet Chakarov and the vice-chairman of the PG of the movement Yordan Tsonev before the president Rumen Radev.
Our position has not changed to find again a formula for governing the country at the present moment given both the political situation in the country and the geopolitical situation, said Chakarov and added: Our support has always been predictable and consistent. The co-chairman of the movement highlighted the main goals of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) - Schengen and the Eurozone.
We have supported this government mainly in terms of policies related to our European path and the European horizon of our country, as well as NATO membership, he added.
At the same time, I would like to say that in pursuing the big goals, we must pay attention to people's agenda and standard of living. This policy of ours for the European path of development and the liberal ideology will be for the future as well. We hope the main subjects find the formula. If not, there is always a possibility to find another configuration, but it will be a lot of work, said Chakarov.
For his part, Yordan Tsonev also confirmed the role of the MRF in the first 9 months of the "Denkov-Gabriel" cabinet. We had a constructive role in the composition of this cabinet, Tsonev added. MRF fulfilled its commitments. If the two ruling coalitions - GERB-UDF and WCC-DB, come to an understanding, that there is a rotation and a next cabinet, we will continue to be a factor of stability, Yordan Tsonev also said.
After the end of the consultations with the president, the MRF refused further comment. /BGNES
