Bulgaria Heading for Early Elections in Autumn - President

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has argued that the country is plagued by a political crisis and is clearly heading for early elections in autumn.

Plevneliev, as cited by the Bulgarian National Radio, noted that he would hold talks with the leaders of political parties and encourage them to reach national consensus on a number of issues, including reforms in healthcare, administration, pension insurance, energy, EU funds freezes, and clearing Bulgaria's image in the EU.

He announced that he had already met Boyko Borisov, leader of center-right party GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria), Sergey Stanishev, leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), and Lyutvi Mestan, leader of liberal party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS).

Plevneliev claimed that it was too early to talk of a caretaker government, adding that it could be used as an instrument to calm down the nation and set priorities.

Bulgaria's head of state emphasized that the country was in the grip of a parliamentary, political, demographic and economic crisis, warning that the situation would deteriorate substantially unless the political leaders reached agreement on reforms in the spheres of healthcare, energy, administration, frozen EU funds and the poor image of the country.

He went on to back the proposal to introduce compulsory voting, adding that Bulgarians had to be asked about the measure first.

Plevneliev also drew attention to the need to shed light on the voting of Bulgarians living abroad.

Asked whether it was possible for the next government to be a coalition of center-right party GERB and the current ruling party, BSP, as had happened in Germany after the elections, Plevneliev underscored that such a move had been possible in Germany because the local political leaders talked to each other and had shared values, while in Bulgaria it was a game of exchanging accusations and threats.

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