Bulgarian PM Defies Calls to Resign

“I will not resign as long as my government has the support of Bulgaria’s palrimanet,” Plamen Oresharski announced while on a visit in Brussels. Photo by BGNES

Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski on Thursday defied calls to resign from thousands of protesters and the former ruling party, now in opposition.

“I will not resign as long as my government has the support of Bulgaria’s palrimanet,” Plamen Oresharski announced while on a visit in Brussels.

He denied hinting at quitting his post a day earlier when the opposition boycotted the parliamentary sitting and it was cancelled.

“This is your own interpretation of my words,” he told reporters.

This is the second time that the embattled prime minister defies calls to resign.

Earlier in the month he warned that the the renewed political crisis might jeopardise Bulgaria's negotiations for EU aid between 2014 and 2020 and cost the newcomer billions of euros in lost subsidies.

“Quitting now would also mean a deepening of the economic and social crisis,” he said.

The prospect of new early elections loomed large in Bulgaria on Wednesday after the Socialist Party also said it is bracing up for snap polls amid fears the opposition will continue to hamper the work of parliament.

The Socialists feared that the leader of the nationalists party Ataka Volen Siderov and his MPs will boycott the parliament on Thursday again and the plenary sitting will have to be cancelled, just like on Wednesday.

Members of the center-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, are also boycotting the parliamentary sittings, saying they will attend only if changes to the Election Code are on the agenda.

The Socialists forecast that if they have to resign under the pressure of the circumstances, there would be no fight for power within this Parliament.

President Rosen Plevneliev would appoint an interim government that would prepare the new early parliamentary elections within 2-3 months.

This means that the old Election Code would apply for the new vote, since the interim government does not have legislative powers and since the parliament would be dissolved.

Meanwhile Bulgaria's former Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov stated that early general elections in September would be the best scenario for the country.

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