"We leave the door open for further talks. We held a meeting with the leadership of GERB-SDS. This start of the dialogue was necessary and meets society's expectations for the parties to contact. This was not a meeting for negotiations to form a government", said BSP chairman Atanas Zafirov after the meeting of "BSP-United Left" with GERB-SDS, quoted by Nova TV. The first political force called the socialists to talks as part of the first stage of discussion of priorities to form a governing majority.
"We talked about nationally responsible topics, about policies. For us, politics is made with dialogue, the budget is adopted this way, reforms - as well. BSP is the political force with the most parliamentary experience. Over the years, we have had an antagonistic attitude and disputes with GERB, but they were not on a project basis, but on policies and management. Names for specific positions were not discussed, nor general management with GERB-SDS. If Borisov's party considers that it needs a left-wing vector in the government, we can think about it. We didn't promise anything and we didn't ask for anything in return," he explained. And he specified that Natalia Kiselova remains the candidate of the left for the Speaker of the National Assembly.
According to his words, at the meeting on Wednesday morning, the dangers to financial stability and guaranteeing the social rights of Bulgarian citizens were discussed.
"We informed GERB that we are submitting a request to the Constitutional Court to cancel the unconstitutional texts adopted as an amendment. We insist that social rights be upheld in Budget 2025. We raised topics related to energy security and health care, as well as legitimacy in elections in the regulators and the judicial system," Zafirov also explained.
Regarding the invitation to a meeting with PP-DB, he indicated that "BSP-United Left" has sent a letter with her priorities, and according to their answer, it will be judged whether the socialists will participate in a meeting with the second political force.
Representatives of the coalition partners of the BSP were also present at the talks. Rumen Petkov from PP "ABV" pointed out that the election of the chief prosecutor and the chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court should be carried out by bodies that have a regular mandate. "The parliamentary quotas must be filled, and through dialogue the parties must find solutions that guarantee the future of the regulatory bodies," he believes.