President Iliana Yotova continues consultations on the selection of a caretaker prime minister with the parliamentaryly represented parties.
Exactly at 1 p.m., representatives of “There is such a people” arrived at the Presidency - the chairman of the PG Toshko Yordanov, deputy chairman Stanislav Balabanov and secretary Pavela Mitova.
"The state should not stop and will not do so as long as there is no regular government. Shared responsibility is needed between the future cabinet and the parliament. We have very big problems, we are working with an extended budget, it was not foreseen for a country in the eurozone. We also have to deal with the price shock, as well as with the work of the municipalities. The presidential institution was deprived of the right to choose with regard to the figure of a caretaker prime minister. Of the ten candidates, five gave a positive answer. The most important thing is to see what needs to be done before a regular cabinet is elected," said President Yotova in her opening speech before the start of the consultations.
Toshko Yordanov commented on the options for an acting prime minister as follows: "There are two politically colored ones - Andrey Gyurov was the chairman of the PP's PG, and Dimitar Glavchev was the chairman of the NA on behalf of GERB. Of the remaining three, it is your responsibility to choose whom you will. You have been presented with five people, maybe you should choose someone who is not party colored".
Yordanov pointed out that the president is currently burdened with great responsibility and expectations. "We are in a complex situation, without a budget and social protection, with suspicions of speculation in the food sector and pharmacy. The reason for this is the overthrow of a regular government after the protests organized by the PP-DB, which is thirsty for power - they are against everyone, as long as they are not in power. It was a mistake to introduce a budget without reaching an agreement with the social partners. We have twice referred the Constitutional Court to the changes in the election of the caretaker prime minister, which resulted in a choice between a limited number of persons from the "house book", he said.
According to Balabanov, the head of state should not listen to anyone about his decision for the caretaker prime minister. "For the caretaker prime minister, a figure should be sought who is as far removed from party politics as possible. Otherwise, the charlatans will be allowed back into power, but through the back door,", he believes.
In turn, Pavela Mitova noted that ITN strongly believes in the separation of powers, but the current situation suggests that the president bears shared responsibility. "Unfortunately, it was not shared with us, but with the formations that changed the Constitution so that the head of state has no choice in the options for an acting prime minister. Therefore, no one should blame the president for his choice, since it was imposed on him. The acting prime minister is a shared responsibility of the head of state and the parties that changed the law," she commented.
According to Yotova, all persons in the so-called "house book" are elected by the political majority in parliament at the specific moment.
On February 4, the first to arrive at "Dondukov 2" were the representatives of the parliamentary group of "DPS – New Beginning" - deputy chairmen Iskra Mihaylova and Erten Anisova, as well as MP Atidje Alieva - Veli. The formation emphasized that the caretaker prime minister must have proven administrative experience and be familiar with the structures of the state.
After them, the "BSP - United Left" arrived at the head of state, whose functionaries indicated that they were aware of the difficult situation in which Yotova was placed, but that the National Assembly must also bear responsibility. The third largest political force in the National Assembly - "Vazrazhdane", previously stated that it would not appear at consultations. The formation explained that, in their opinion, only Andrey Gyurov was partially eligible for caretaker prime minister.
In the first phase of the parliamentary consultations, GERB-SDF proposed the election of a new Speaker of the National Assembly in order to have another candidate for caretaker prime minister. The PP-DB emphasized that fair elections are necessary, and the previous caretaker cabinet should not be repeated.
Yotova must choose a caretaker prime minister from among five of the so-called "home book", who stated their agreement in principle to take up the post. These are the Deputy Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank Andrey Gyurov, the Deputy Ombudsman Maria Filipova, the Chairman of the Audit Board Dimitar Glavchev and his two deputies - Margarita Nikolova and Silvia Kadreva.
The date for the early parliamentary elections also depends on the signing of the decree appointing a caretaker government, and they must be held within two months of the start of the interim government.