Parliament Accepts Cabinet's Resignation, President Starts Talks on Interim Government
Parliament accepted on Thursday the resignation of prime minister Boiko Borisov's centre-right government, which he submitted a day earlier.
The 240-seat parliament accepted the cabinet's resignation with the votes of 209 MPs, as five voted against and one abstained.
In a televised address to the nation following the MPs' vote, president Rosen Plevneliev said he will hold on Friday consultations with the main parties in parliament on the formation of a new cabinet to run the country until July when general elections are due.
On Monday Plevneliev will give a mandate to the ruling party GERB to form a cabinet. If they turn it down, Plevneliev will pass the mandate to the second largest party in parliament, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).
Both GERB, the BSP, and the other parties in parliament have said they will not participate in an interim government, which would mean that Plevneliev will have to appoint a caretaker government and call early elections.
If no party accepts to form an interim government, early elections should be held at the earliest possible, Plevneliev said.
The government's resignation came after a week of street rallies across the country which started as a protest against high electricity bills but escalated into anti-government marches. A reshuffle in the centre-right cabinet earlier this week and the prime minister's announcement that the licence of one of the energy distributors in the country will be revoked failed to ease the tension.
GERB came to power in the summer of 2009 after winning a sweeping victory in general elections.