Bulgaria Edges Closer to Sixth General Election in Two Years

GERB party leader Boyko Borissov speaks during a-post-election press conference in Sofia, 5 April 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/VASSIL DONEV

On Thursday, GERB leader and former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov reconfirmed that he has stopped discussions with his opponents in "We Continue the Change" and Democratic Bulgaria on forming a government.

He also said his allies in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and the Bulgarian Socialist Party are not viable coalition partners.

This leaves GERB with no combination that can muster a majority in Bulgaria's 240-seat parliament. 

"We're all heading to the abyss of the next elections," Borissov told media in a confrontational manner, calling WCC/DB's stance to not collaborate with GERB "arrogant, irresponsible and impossible", and chiding the media for "manipulatively" covering recent international sanctions imposed on members of GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms as an example of journalists falling for the narratives of his opponents. 

"The political class does not deserve the votes of the citizens," added Borissov, clarifying that he is "not nervous, only serious".

On Tuesday, WCC and Democratic Bulgaria tried to be a step ahead of events: the reformist alliance, part of Kiril Petkov's 2021-2022 coalition, and coming second in the last elections, announced a project cabinet, with former Education Minister Nickolay Denkov as their project PM.

Borissov said GERB can only support a cabinet formed by his rivals if there are ministers from his party, adding: "I'm their only friend." 

On Thursday, former PM Petkov - who wants votes from GERB in parliament if the mandate moves to them, but not their actual presence in the government - said: "We showed a strategy of full...