2024-03-12 18:46:56
The two formations have a first version of the legislative program
The president asks them if he can have a majority with another. It is always possible, replied the third – DPS
A new file has been opened by GERB and PP-DB in an attempt to jointly develop a document for general management. It includes texts from the memorandum of Kiril Petkov and Hristo Ivanov, as well as from the agreement of Boyko Borisov’s party.
Although both parties have put their preliminary proposals for ministers on the table, it was left to Nikolay Denkov and Maria Gabriel to specify the composition of the government.
So far the partners
have already gone through all the threads and identified where the discrepancies are
However, on the third day since the start of their talks, both GERB-SDS and PP-DB maintain media silence. They did not reveal any details to the president, who started the consultations before handing over the first mandate.
We have common points, the conversations are constructive. We also have differences, and that is precisely why we need the negotiations – so that overcoming the differences and the chances we give each other to overcome them are on a very stable basis, Maria Gabriel, who heads the GERB negotiating team, was succinct. Borisov formed an all-female group – including Denitsa Sacheva, Temenuzka Petkova and Raya Nazaryan. It was them that he sent to “Dondukov” 2, he himself did not go to Radev. (See also in the box below.)
For GERB, the basis continues to be principles such as transparency, shared responsibility and a very clear decision-making mechanism, Gabriel emphasized in the presidency. And in the dialogue, the good things, but also the critical things, should be said.
“It is important for us not to lose sight of the interests of Bulgaria. We
we need stability and calmness,
but they must step on fundamental principles and values,” she explained.
There is still work to be done on the negotiations. As you know, in addition to the agreement we worked on yesterday and the day before, we also need to specify the legislative program. Work has not started, we have a first version of the list, but we need to work on it together.
Separately is the management program that needs to be updated and of course the composition of the Council of Ministers, so until all the work is done we don’t have a final document to agree on, Academician Nikolay Denkov also explained on his way out of “Dondukov” 2.
He defined the negotiations as constructive, there was significant progress. But
“until everything is agreed, nothing is agreed”
We must continue at the same pace in order to finish as quickly as possible, insisted Denkov.
He admitted to the president that they were well aware of the political damage when they set out to form a cabinet with the second mandate and the support of GERB. But after 9 months, two adopted budgets, constitutional changes, developing the investment projects, unblocking the problems related to the energy transition and providing financing to the affected regions – we can actually say that this effort was worth it. he said. He added that the PP-DB took hits not only from the opposition, but also because “other political forces decided that it was easier to use a populist approach to gain popularity at the expense of the government.”
And despite the silence surrounding the details of the negotiations and Denkov’s complaint of friendly fire, the feeling among participants and observers is that a government, with the mandate of GERB, is likely to be formed. The parties from the (non)coalition are ready for compromises, for
that none of them take responsibility for special elections
However, the 9 months in joint management have not created even narrow bridges of trust and points of contact between PP-DB and GERB.
This is how a participant in the presidential consultations informally described the feeling after the three meetings with the constitutional majority parties that his team had on Monday.
Surely the head of state would have granted the few days of delay that Maria Gabriel requested before giving her the mandate to form a government. But here, too, PP-DB’s views differed – they saw no need to extend over time, because political decisions were needed.
We will not interfere with your decision, was Denkov’s answer when Radev asked if they needed more time.
The absence of Boyko Borisov from the consultations was read by “Dondukov” 2 rather as a lack of clarity between the partners as to how the second rotating cabinet will be formed.
For the PP-DB, the hundred appointments in the regulators that must be made are more important than the names of specific ministers. And it is not clear for now which of the two processes of searching for suitable applications will come first. And the idea of Kiril Petkov and Hristo Ivanov that the non-governmental sector submit the names for the regulators is not accepted by GERB.
The candidate for prime minister, Maria Gabriel, is probably worried about the state’s financial situation in the coming months, and that is why Borisov’s party wants to clarify the real state of the treasury. During the weekend, there was a lot of talk about the participation of Asen Vassilev in the team of the former European Commissioner and whether this is a “red line” of the PP. However, according to figures from GERB
it is not even about the Finance Minister himself,
and for “accounting gimmicks” that hid the real state of the state budget.
Another curious detail from Monday’s consultations with the president was Rumen Radev’s question to the first three political forces – is it possible to have a majority in another configuration within the 49th National Assembly. But instead of GERB and PP-DB, he received a response only from DPS.
We hope the main subjects find the formula. If not – there is always a possibility to find another configuration, but it will be quite difficult to find such an output later, co-chairman Jevdet Chakarov explained.
If GERB-SDS and PP-DB come to an understanding and there is a rotation and a cabinet, we will continue with the same policy –
to be a factor of stability,
to support what is needed to support the people and the municipalities, and all the reforms started, as well as the most important – the membership of the Eurozone and Schengen, explained the deputy head of the DPS Yordan Tsonev.
Borisov and Peevski did not go to the president, the GERB leader is waiting for the results of the negotiations at the headquarters
The chairmen of the GERB and DPS parliamentary groups, Boyko Borisov and Delyan Peevski, did not go to Rumen Radev for the consultations before the handing over of the first mandate.
Boyko Borisov sent his negotiating team there headed by the resigned Deputy Prime Minister and future candidate for Prime Minister Maria Gabriel. It includes the three vice-presidents of the parliamentary group – Denitsa Sacheva, Temenuzka Petkova and Raya Nazaryan.
Borisov himself did not personally go to speak with the leaders of “We continue the change” and “Democratic Bulgaria” despite Kiril Petkov’s calls from the end of last week. The two have not spoken to each other for 20 days, after on February 20 PP-DB surprised their partner in the (non)coalition by offering them the memorandum on joint work through the media. After that, Petkov complained that Borisov did not pick up the phone and did not respond to his invitation for a personal meeting.
And during the negotiations this weekend, the GERB leader waited for their results at the party headquarters, sources revealed.
And Delyan Peevski did not go to “Dondukov” 2 for the conversation with the president yesterday. The other co-chairman of the party, Jevdet Chakarov, was accompanied by Yordan Tsonev, Hamid Hamid, Halil Letifov and Stanislav Anastasov.
Radev hands over the mandate on Friday at the earliest
Fears that the president was speeding up the constitutional process by convening the consultations as early as Monday and Tuesday were somewhat allayed. In his introductory words to the governing formations, Rumen Radev suggested that he would give them additional time before handing over the first folder.
The quick vote on the resignation of the “Denkov” cabinet already on March 6 freed the head of state’s hands to spin the roulette wheel. As Boyko Borisov himself stated, this serves the PP-DB – to put GERB in the mode of shortened negotiations and for Maria Gabriel not to have enough time to negotiate changes in consultations “with Radev on her neck”. The parties in the assembly themselves spoke that the first mandate could be handed out as early as this Wednesday.
However, the president signaled that he would not enter exactly into this scheme. Observers are already betting that Radev can hand over the mandate on Friday at the earliest. Or if he follows the rhythm of the 7-day deadlines, in which he enters further in the procedure, he can choose next Monday or even Tuesday (March 19) – exactly a week after the end of his talks with the rest of the parliamentary forces BSP, “Vazrazhdane” and IT.
According to the constitution, he does not have a deadline to invite the first force to serve the folder. But if he takes the mandate, GERB has exactly 7 days to return it – fulfilled or not.
Nothing restricts the mandate holder from returning to the president another folder with a ready draft composition of the cabinet, i.e. upon acceptance of the folder. on the same day and time. But nothing foreshadows that Maria Gabriel has such readiness. She herself explained to Radev that more time would help negotiate a stable foundation for the new administration.