No-Confidence Vote Against Bulgarian Govt Called Off
A no-confidence motion against Bulgaria's centre-right government over its decision to halt the construction of a nuclear power plant will not be put to the vote as it is not backed by enough MPs, the parliament speaker said on Thursday.
Earlier in the day eight MPs of nationalist party Ataka withdrew their support for the motion, the state-run Bulgarian National Television reported.
The motion needs to be supported by at least a fifth of all MPs in the 240-seat chamber in order to be voted upon, Tsetska Tsacheva said in an audio file posted on the website of the state-run Bulgarian National Radio (BNR). After eight MPs withdrew their signatures from the no-confidence motion, no constitutional grounds exist to hold a debate and vote on it, she added.
The motion was filed in the beginning of April by the Bulgarian Socialist Party and was signed by 48 MPs, including eight deputies from Ataka.
This would have been the fourth no-confidence vote against the cabinet of Prime Minister Boiko Borisov which took office in July 2009.
Opinion polls show Borisov's cabinet continues to enjoy wide public support.