The GERB parliamentary group will support the budget extension law in the form in which it is submitted by the caretaker government, in order to prevent the state's work from being blocked and to not create grounds for political accusations. This was stated by the party leader Boyko Borisov to the party's deputies in an address broadcast live on Borisov's Facebook profile, BTA reports.
Borisov said that in his opinion the caretaker government is not seeking a majority in parliament and its goal is to subsequently shift responsibility to other parties if the budget is not adopted. “We must approach the state, institutions and Bulgarian citizens responsibly“, he said.
According to him, GERB will support the bill “letter by letter”, as submitted by the caretaker finance minister. According to Borisov, this will remove the arguments that the party is preventing the adoption of the extension budget. He added that the task of the caretaker government is to find a majority in parliament to pass the bill.
GERB MP Temenuzhka Petkova also stated that the bill must be supported in order for the state to function normally. She noted that there are issues that can be discussed within the budget committee, but in her opinion the right approach is for the law to be adopted in the form in which it is proposed.
Rosen Zhelyazkov commented that the actions of the institutions currently should be aimed at ensuring fair, transparent and honest elections. In his words, support for the extended budget would show basic political consensus and responsibility in the period before the election campaign.
Zhelyazkov warned that there is a risk that between the first and second reading of the bill, numerous amendments will be proposed that could change its original design.
Borisov called on GERB deputies to refrain from such proposals and to support the bill without changes. He said that the party would give a mandate to the chairman of the budget committee, Delyan Dobrev, to defend this position, and GERB's support would be only for the text in its original form.