Bulgarian Nationalists Still Undecided on 'Oresharski' Govt

The parliamentary group of Bulgaria's far-right nationalist Ataka party is convening Tuesday evening to decide on how to vote on the proposal for the country's new Cabinet.

The meeting starts at 6 pm in the party's headquarters in downtown Sofia, Ataka Member of the Parliament, Yavor Notev, reported.

He says the party has not yet decided if it would support the proposed Cabinet team, tabled by former Finance Minister, Plamen Oresharski, who was nominated for Prime Minister by the Bulgarians Socialist Party, BSP.

The list of Ministers was revealed Monday and will be voted by the Parliament Wednesday morning.

Also on Monday, Ataka and its leader Volen Siderov boycotted consultations with Oresharski.

Oresharski invited for debates Ataka, the nationalist VMRO party, the right-wing Bulgaria for Citizens of former EU Commissioner, Meglena Kuneva, and People's Voice of rock musician Svetlio Vitkov, to discuss the priorities of the 2013 – 2017 government.

Except Ataka, all others attended their respective work meetings.

The parties that overcame the 4% threshold to win seats in the May 12 general elections are: the center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, party of former Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, the ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS, and their self-proclaimed arch enemies - Ataka (Attack).

According to the final count, DPS and BSP together have 120 seats in the 240-seat unicameral Parliament. Ataka, with 23 MPs, is said to be the kingmaker as GERB has 97 MPs.

Ataka, BSP and DPS have all declared that they would not negotiate with GERB, which narrowly won the election, but was unable to form a government.

During the Parliament opening ceremony, Siderov delivered a speech that stunned many with its tone and threats. Among many things, he shouted he would support no one in the Parliament.

At the ceremony, Ataka MPs took the oath of office, but did not register to vote. This lowered the quorum and allowed the BSP Speaker of the Parliament nominee to be elected without obstructions by the Socialists and the ethnic Turks, confirming fears the Nationalists will be the parliamentary brokers.

GERB did not vote for the Speaker's nomination.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!