President Rumen Radev's remarks regarding the limited options for selecting the caretaker prime minister were echoed by the reluctance of most potential nominees to take on the role.
Following constitutional amendments, potential candidates for the position include the Speaker of the National Assembly, the governor or one of the three deputy governors of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), the chairman of the Audit Chamber, or their deputies, as well as the ombudsman or their deputy.
During a meeting with the President, BNB Governor Dimitar Radev cautioned against involving the central bank in politics, citing potential repercussions for the institution. He emphasized the explicit delineation of roles within the EU treaty and the European Central Bank statute, suggesting that these roles cannot be combined. Similarly, his colleague Petar Chobanov expressed reservations about taking on the position but stopped short of ruling it out completely, emphasizing his commitment to public interest.
Andrey Gyurov, formerly a member of parliament and now a BNB deputy governor, adopted a similar stance, deflecting questions about assuming the role of acting prime minister and deferring responsibility to the President to find a solution.
Dimitar Glavchev, the chairman of the Audit Chamber, refrained from commenting on whether he would accept the position of interim prime minister after meeting with Radev.
Glavchev's deputies, Toshko Todorov and Gorica Grancharova-Kozhareva, expressed concern about the possibility of one of them being appointed as acting prime minister, criticizing the parliament's decision to limit the selection to 10 individuals.
Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva, who is soon to be sworn in as a judge at the European Court of Human Rights, stated that she cannot assume the role of acting prime minister due to her impending resignation from her current position. She emphasized the need for a prompt resignation to facilitate the election of a new ombudsman.
The process of electing a new ombudsman and deputy ombudsman would take at least a month, as per legal requirements.
On Friday, President Rumen Radev reiterated his commitment to upholding the constitutional requirements, despite his reservations about recent amendments. These changes allow the president to consult with parliamentary groups and, upon receiving a proposal from the interim prime minister candidate, appoint an interim government and set a timeframe for new elections within two months.
To navigate the potentially ambiguous sequence of steps outlined in the constitution, the presidential administration has devised a strategy: first, the president will issue a decree appointing a caretaker prime minister. Subsequently, the appointed prime minister will be given time to form a cabinet before the president convenes consultations with parliamentary groups. The constitution does not stipulate specific deadlines for completing this process.
Once a cabinet is formed, the president has the authority to schedule elections through another decree. If all steps of the constitutional procedure are finalized within 10 days, early parliamentary elections could coincide with those for the European Parliament on June 9th.
