National Assembly

Joseph Daul, who heads the European People's Party (EPP) Group in the European Parliament, has urged Bulgarian politicians to form a government after uniting around certain priorities.

Center-right GERB party, the biggest in Parliament, is to preside over the two temporary committees with the National Assembly formed Wednesday.

The decision was announced a few hours ahead of MPs' first regular plenary session after the legislature was convened on Monday.

A surprising meeting was held Tuesday evening between Radan Kanev, co-Chairman of the Reformist Bloc, and members of GERB party's team tasked to carry out government consultations, sources say.

Rebuilding of trust in Bulgaria's parliamentarism, judiciary and administrative reforms and combating corruption are the main priorities of the Reformist Bloc, listed by parliamentary group co-chairperson Radan Kanev in his remarks in the National Assembly.

Bulgaria's newly elected MPs convened at the first session of the country's 43-rd National Assembly.

By Constitution the session was opened by the oldest MP - actor Stefan Danailov from the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

Even the prospects of a hypothetical coalition to govern Bulgaria are slim, conservative GERB's leader Boyko Borisov announced after meeting socialist counterpart Mihail Mikov.

Dodik's party says coalition has majority

BANJA LUKA -- Vice-president of the SNSD Igor Radojičić has said that the ruling coalition has a majority to form a new government in the Serb entity (RS) of Bosnia.

As expected, the left-nationalist party Ataka refused to have government consultations with the centre-right GERB.

According to the party leader Volen Siderov, the Ataka representatives tried to contact the GERB with a demand for live television broadcast of the negotiations, but did not receive an official response and cancelled the consultations.

Boyko Borisov's GERB party is struggling to assemble a working majority in parliament after winning most votes in Bulgaria's general elections on October 5.

Rumen Yonchev, from Bulgaria without Censorship, said his centrist coalition will offer "preliminary support" to the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB.

Conservative GERB party and the centrist coalition Bulgaria without Censorship are set to meet for consultations in Parliament.

BwC's Rumen Yonchev told private national NOVA TV his coalition was offering "preliminary support" to the center-right party.