Bulgarian Righitsts Won't Back 'Fiscal Stability Pact'

The Blue Coalition's Ekaterina Mihaylova speaking at a press conference Monday. Photo by BGNES

The rightist Blue Coalition will vote against the constitutional amendments needed to implement the so-called Financial Stability Pact proposed by the center-right GERB cabinet.

This was stated by Blue front bench MP Ekaterina Mihaylova Monday after Saturday parliament speaker Tsetska Tsacheva said she hopes that the amendments will pass through parliament by end of June.

The innovations to which the Blue Coalition is opposed is changing the requirement of simple majority to qualified 2/3 majority in parliament for changing taxes in Bulgaria.

Apart from that measure, the Stability Pact authored by FinMin Simeon Djankov includes two other key moments: introducing a limit to the budget deficit (2%), as well as restricting the power of the state to redistribute public funds (40% of GDP).

The GERB ruling party has a minority of 117 MPs out of 240 and has relied on backing from the Blue Coalition and the nationalist Ataka party, but relations with both partners have dramatically worsened in the last few months.

GERB can nevertheless rely on a handful of non-aligned MPs, but must gather a qualified 3/4 majority to pass constitutional amendments.

Monday Ekaterina Mihaylova also announced that the Blue Coalition does not intend to enter into consultation with arch-foes the Bulgarian Socialist Party over a no-confidence vote against the cabinet, counter to what socialist leader Sergey Stanishev suggested Sunday.

Mihaylova nevertheless insinuated that should the reasons behind the no-confidence vote be formulated in a way that is in line with the Blue Coalition's worries and should the situation require it, the Blues might actually support the motion and vote to oust the cabinet.

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