Snap election

Nikos Chrysoloras & Antonis Galanopoulos

Greek bond investors face a rollercoaster ride for the next four months as the government tries to contain the risk of snap elections, Minister of Administrative Reform Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.

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Bulgaria looks likely to get yet another unstable, divided government following October 5 snap general election, The Economist has said.

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Prime Minister Antonis Samaras appealed for political consensus so that Parliament can elect a president early next year and avert the risk of snap general elections in an article in Sunday’s Kathimerini.

Democratic Left (DIMAR) chief Fotis Kouvelis has denied speculation that he has been asked to be the ruling coalition's candidate for president in elections next year.

“There has been neither a proposal, nor a hint. There has been no deal, neither in secret, nor in the open,” Kouvelis said during a press conference at Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) on Wednesday.

A milder and more ordinary elections campaign leading to October 5's snap poll should be expected this year, sociologist Andrey Raychev believes.

He told the Bulgarian National Television that the "main scandal" that recently rocked Bulgaria had already been left behind.

Krasimira Medarova, announced by President Rosen Plevneliev as a minister in charge of elections in the caretaker government, has decided not to stand down.

Medarova, who was to oversee the preparation of the October 5 snap poll, announced her decision in an open letter to the media, just two days after President Plevneliev issued a decree to appoint her.

Bulgaria’s caretaker premier Georgi Bliznashki has pledged to restore the people’s trust during the tenure of his cabinet, Reuters highlighted on Wednesday.

President Rosen Plevneliev on Tuesday nominated Bliznashki to lead a caretaker government that will prepare snap elections on October 5.

Consultations are to be held among parliamentary parties shortly after lawmakers vote on the resignation of Bulgaria's cabinet, the President has announced.

Rosen Plevneliev's press office said future actions of political parties are due to be discussed, with a timetable to be molded comprising the period before early general elections.

By Angelos Stangos

The new Constitution has to set out the terms of Bulgaria's exit from the European Union, according to Stefan Sofiyanski, former Sofia Mayor and former caretaker Prime Minister.