Bulgaria's President to Give Gov't Mandate to Third-Largest Party

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev is to hand a mandate to form a government to the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), a coalition partner in the outgoing cabinet.

Plevneliev is due to take the step on Sunday after the two biggest parties in Parliament, GERB and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), refused to use the opportunity and seek a new cabinet after the one led by Plamen Oresharski resigned on Wednesday.

The constitution states that, after a government resignation, the President has to allow all parties present in the National Assembly to forge a new cabinet, before disbanding the current one, appointing a date for early elections and setting up a caretaker government.

However, under an agreement among political leaders reached at Bulgaria's Presidency, no party is to seek such a role within the 42nd (acting) Parliament, and DPS is also expected to return its mandate on Monday.

Oresharski's government resigned following nearly fourteen months in office, nearly two months after a weak performance of the main ruling BSP at the EU elections opened a rift with its coalition partners from the DPS.

It has been the second cabinet to resign since 2013, when GERB leader, and then Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, stepped down amid protests over plummeting living standards.