President Radev Holds Consultations with MECh, Discusses Possible Early Parliamentary Elections

Ilian Ivanov Elections

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President Rumen Radev held government-forming consultations here on Thursday with representatives of MECh, following the resignation of the Cabinet, announced by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and unanimously accepted by Parliament last week.

During the consultations, MECh Chair Radostin Vasilev reported that his party sees no possibility of forming a functioning government through "political betrayals". He specified that the current government had been formed through major political betrayals by There Is Such a People and BSP - United Left, which led to discontent among a large part of their voters. He said that this parliament cannot produce an Election Code that guarantees fair elections, because the majority in it is not what the electorate requires.

Vasilev referred to GERB Chair Boyko Borissov and MRF - New Beginning Floor Leader Delyan Peevski as a part of the same organized crime circle, which should be eliminated.

The leader of MECh reported that his party has prepared laws to amend and supplement the Election Code in relation to machine voting, because paper voting is more susceptible to manipulation in Bulgaria.

During these consultations, Radev said that for the people outside parliament what happened with the state budget is a mystery. He asked MECh to explain what happened with the budget on Wednesday, since the events from that day are "difficult to explain with the tools of logic and ideology".

Bulgarians protest widespread graft and call for a fair election

Ilian Ivanov Elections

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SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Tens of thousands of people on Thursday filled the streets of Bulgaria’s capital and other major cities in the country, calling for a fair election and an independent judiciary able to effectively fight widespread corruption.

The demonstrations in Sofia and elsewhere came after last week’s protests sparked by the government’s budget plans for higher taxes and spending increases. The government later withdrew the contentious 2026 budget plan, but eventually bowed to people’s demands and stepped down.

The latest developments are leaving the European Union member country without a budget for next year and without a regular government, just before Bulgaria is set to join the eurozone.

Now, President Rumen Radev is expected to appoint a caretaker government and set the date for the next early vote — the eighth since 2021.

On Thursday, people insisted on fair and free elections rather than polls compromised by vote manipulation, vote-buying and falsification of election results as in the previous campaign.

At the core of the protesters’ frustrations is the role of Bulgarian politician and oligarch Delyan Peevski, who has been sanctioned by both the United States and the United Kingdom, and whose MRF New Beginning party backed the outgoing coalition led by the GERB party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

The Balkan country of 6.4 million people is due to make the switch from its national currency, the lev, to the euro on Jan. 1, to become the eurozone’s 21st member. Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007.