"We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria" and GERB Agreed on the Composition of the Cabinet

"We continue the change - Democratic Bulgaria" and GERB-SDS agreed on the composition of the cabinet. The national bodies of the parties will have to approve it, and it will be officially announced today.

Yesterday, two consecutive leadership meetings were held in the office of the Chairman of the National Assembly Rosen Zhelyazkov. They were attended by Mariya Gabriel, Tomislav Donchev, Nikolay Denkov, Kiril Petkov, Asen Vassilev, Hristo Ivanov, Atanas Atanasov and Vladislav Panev. The first meeting ended in a little more than an hour, after which the representatives of the two coalitions took a break to agree on the last rotations. At 2 p.m., the negotiations were renewed and lasted for about two hours, during which time the composition of the "Denkov-Gabriel" project cabinet was finally approved. At 6 p.m., a third meeting was held, which, however, was attended only by representatives of WCC and GERB.

In the end, Asen Vassilev will be finance minister. The head of the GDBOP (Main Directorate "Fighting Organized Crime"), Kalin Stoyanov, will become the Minister of Internal Affairs. At the last moment, the other prominent political figures such as Radoslav Ribarski, Daniel Laurer and Milen Mateev dropped out.

The main points in the proposal have not been changed - the government will have a life of 18 months, during the first 9 months Nikolay Denkov will be prime minister, and Mariya Gabriel will be vice prime minister. The two will then rotate. Bulgarian media provided a list of future ministers confirmed by the parties in the coalition. However, the official presentation of the cabinet will be later today.

The composition of the cabinet:

• Nikolay Denkov - rotating Prime Minister;
• Mariya Gabriel - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs;
• Asen Vassilev – Minister of Finance;
• Kalin Stoyanov – Minister of Internal Affairs;
• Todor Tagarev – Minister of Defense;
• Julian Popov – Minister of Environment and Water;
• Rumen Radev - Minister of Energy;
• Andrey Tsekov – Minister of Regional Development and Public Works;
• Kiril Vatev – Minister of Agriculture and Food;
• Prof. Galin Tsokov – Minister of Education and Science;
• Krastyu Krastev – Minister of Culture;
• Bogdan Bogdanov - Minister of Economy and Industry;
• Milena Stoycheva – Minister of Innovation and Growth;
• Ivanka Shalapatova – Minister of Labor and Social Policy;
• Emil Dechev – Minister of Justice;
• Georgi Gvozdeikov – Minister of Transport and Communications;
• Prof. Hristo Hinkov – Minister of Health;
• Zaritsa Dinkova – Minister of Tourism;
• Alexander Iolovski – Minister of Electronic Government;
• Dimitar Iliev - Minister of Youth and Sports.

New meeting with Radev and coalition agreement

After the first two political forces have agreed on the cabinet, the candidate for the first rotating prime minister, Nikolay Denkov, is to return to President Rumen Radev the folder with the composition and structure of the government. It is expected to happen today. Radev's calendar does not include a planned visit abroad.

The idea of depositing the folder in the office of "Dondukov 2" was discussed in the ranks of WCC-DB both yesterday and today, but without a meeting between the representatives of the party and Radev. The idea emerged after Radev did not follow protocol in handing over the second exploratory mandate, when he called on the new coalition not to propose a cabinet and refused to hold a closed-door meeting with WCC-DB representatives. After the National Council of "We Continue the Change", it was decided to have a meeting with Radev today. Bulgarian media "OFFNews" reported that the folder with the structure and composition of the cabinet will be handed over by Nikolay Denkov and Mariya Gabriel.

On Wednesday, Denkov talked about a document being prepared, "which will give peace of mind to all (in the state administration) who are worried". According to information from "OFFNews", it is not a question of a law to protect civil servants from political purges, but a program declaration of the "Denkov-Gabriel" cabinet. In this way, GERB-SDS and WCC-DB avoid the coalition agreement and keep their positions as a kind of "informal coalition".

Denkov: The composition of the Council of Ministers was adopted yesterday at the national councils of WCC and DB

"The composition of the Council of Ministers was adopted yesterday by all national councils of WCC and DB. The draft cabinet that came out at the end of the day is what we have proposed for adoption". Acad. Nikolay Denkov, nominated for prime minister by WCC-DB, stated this to the media. He stated that a final conversation with Mariya Gabriel was forthcoming.

Denkov also commented that their previous proposal for the composition of the Council of Ministers was taken out in a completely different situation, while now there is talk of a search for a composition that would receive wider parliamentary support. More experts are included in the design cabinet, he said.

Acad. Nikolay Denkov thanked everyone who agreed to participate in the first team and added:

"We had to withdraw several political figures to make the cabinet more neutral. The composition must also be socially acceptable. It is clear that in order to seek a parliamentary majority, we must also have public support, that this composition was not made, to be party-oriented, but to do the job. Each of the nominees has his weight in the place and will be able to do the job," said Denkov.

He also said that they don't trust GERB, but he can trust Mariya Gabriel. Conversations with her are always constructive, said Denkov.

Follow Novinite.com on Twitter and Facebook

Write to us at editors@novinite.com

Информирайте се на Български - Novinite.bg

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