Bulgaria’s caretaker Prime Minister Georgi Bliznashki on Monday urged political leaders to quickly build a government in the wake of snap elections at the weekend.
Bliznashki, appointed in August to guide Bulgaria to early elections after the governing coalition collapsed, called for the new cabinet to be formed within 2-3 weeks, the novinite.com news site reported.
Former prime minister Boyko Borisov’s conservative GERB party won its third consecutive parliamentary election Sunday, but will likely face a hard time finding partners to build a governing coalition in a highly fragmented parliament.
Never before have eight tickets – with a total of 47 parties strewn into coalitions – qualified for the legislature.
According to incomplete official results, GERB won 32.6 per cent of the ballots cast.
The Socialist Party (BSP) scored its worst result since the fall of Communism 25 years ago, winning only 15.3 per cent of the ballots.
The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), a junior partner of BSP in the previous government, won 14.9 per cent owing to its solid base of support from ethnic Turks.
Five smaller parties also won more than 4 per cent of the votes, clearing the hurdle to qualify for the legislature and win some of the 240 seats.
Borisov immediately said that he was “ready to govern,” but ruled out the BSP, DPS and two of the smaller parties as potential partners.
He admitted that the snap polls may fail to end the instability which has gripped Bulgaria for two years. The country needs urgent reforms to jump-start its economy and ease the stranglehold of corruption.
Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007, but remains its poorest member and is perceived as one of the most corrupt.
Tired of unfulfilled promises and poverty that has grown worse instead of abating, many Bulgarians turned to apathy – on Sunday only 50 per cent voted, fewer than in any elections over the past quarter-century.
GNA
