Bulgarian Opposition Socialists Deem Coalition with Rightist Rulers Impossible

Sergey Stanishev, leader of the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party and chairman of the Party of European Socialists, has dismissed any possibility of a forming any sort of a governing coalition with the ruling center-right party GERB after Bulgaria's 2013 general elections.

"There can be no coalition between the Bulgarian Socialist Party and GERB," Stanishev told bTV Wednesday, referring to recent public opinion surveys indicating a very minor lead of GERB and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov ahead of Stanishev's Socialists.

"This is clear, we antagonists," stated Stanishev, who was Bulgaria's Prime Minister in 2005-2009 leading a notorious government of a three-way coalition made up of BSP, the National Movement for Stability and Prosperity of Bulgaria's ex Tsar and ex PM Simeon Saxe-Coburg, and the ethnic-Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS).

In his words, Bulgaria's future government will be function of what the country really needs.

Stanishev believes the priorities of the next government must be "the restoration of democratic statehood, the active role of the state in the economy, support for the small and medium-sized enterprises, and the restoration of the welfare state".

Bulgaria's 2013 parliamentary elections are expected to be held in the summer. Because of the close results of BSP and GERB in the polls some commentators have suggested that the two forces might come together in forming an "expert cabinet".

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