Borissov’s GERB will name Bulgaria’s next key officials

5 months ago 12

Former prime minister and centre-right GERB leader Boyko Borissov, whose party won the latest elections, will be allowed to name key officials, although his party will have to govern in coalition with two other parties.

Borissov’s party, which is a member of the EPP and is among the most ardent supporters of a new mandate for Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission president, will name the next Bulgarian prime minister, foreign minister, military minister and speaker of parliament.

“Both the president of the National Assembly and the prime minister will be from GERB,” the party’s MP Denitsa Sacheva said on Monday, following talks with the Turkish minority party Movement for Rights and Freedoms DPS (Renew Europe).

The favourite candidate to become prime minister is a former parliamentary speaker and long-time partner of Borissov – Rossen Zhelyazkov. The former mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova, is expected to become speaker of the new parliament. Depending on negotiations with future coalition partners, Fandakova and Zhelyazkov may swap power positions.

Zhelyazkov, who served as general secretary of Sofia municipality when Borissov was mayor, is one of GERB’s strongest political figures and is known for his excellent knowledge of state and municipal administration.

Zhelyazkov followed Borissov into the executive, becoming secretary general of the Council of Ministers while the GERB leader was prime minister. Zhelyazkov was then appointed transport minister in Borissov’s third government (2017-2021).

Zhelyazkov was a defendant in a case of manipulation of the 2013 parliamentary elections won by GERB, known as the Kostinbrod affair. The prosecutor’s office itself decided to drop the case against the GERB politician, admitting that there was insufficient evidence.

Bulgaria’s future government is to be elected with the support of GERB, DPS and the populist There is Such a People (ITN) party of former TV presenter Slavi Trifonov. If agreed, the tripartite coalition will have a fragile majority of 131 in the 240-seat parliament, with 121 votes needed to elect a government.

“The talks we have had so far have shown that we have similar programmes with the DPS on the main priorities for our country,” Denitsa Sacheva said after the meeting with the Turkish minority party.

For its part, GERB said it was seeking “a path towards a government of shared responsibility while maintaining Bulgaria’s aspirations for Schengen and eurozone membership.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)