Dimitar Bayraktarov

Former lawmaker Valentin Nikolov has quit the Patriotic Front coalition, rejecting its move to run together with far-right Ataka party in the upcoming early election.

Nikolov has followed the example of Dimitar Bayraktarov, calling the coalition "unprincipled" in an interview with private broadcaster NOVA TV.

There are at least 19 independent canndidates who have submitted their registration paper to the Central Election Commission (CEC) prior to the early election in Bulgaria.

Nine of these are members of Normalna Darzhava ("Normal State") party of former BSP lawmaker Georgi Kadiev, which was denied registration for the snap vote.

The prospect of forming a nationalist-led cabinet within the current Parliament has divided opinions in Bulgaria, with the biggest party itself split over the move.

Bulgarian lawmakers have narrowly turned down a proposal by the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) calling for sanctions against Russia to be reviewed.

Sofia has enforced measures against the Russian Federation in line with the EU and the US policies toward Moscow after the Ukraine crisis began last year.

A fight has broken out in Bulgaria's Parliament following a bitter dispute between the two nationalist parties, government supporter Patriotic Front (PF) and opposition Ataka.

The fist fighting began on Thursday afternoon, after Dimitar Bayraktarov, from PF, accused Ataka's leader Volen Siderov of "defending the US" in an article dating back in the 1990s.