Bulgaria fails to form a stable and effective government after six consecutive early elections. Meanwhile, apathy among voters is growing.
Bulgaria’s new provisional government has taken office, as the country prepares for its seventh early elections in three years. Bulgarian President Rumen Radev announced that the elections will be held on October 27, in a new attempt to overcome the political stagnation caused by minority governments, failed coalitions and low electoral participation.
“The political crisis is not over”Radev warned before the inauguration ceremony, adding that the solution lies in having a sustainable majority in Parliament that elects an effective Government.
Radev reappointed Dimitar Glavchev as interim prime minister to lead the interim cabinet, after a false start last week, when rejected the previous candidateGoritsa Kozhareva, because they did not agree on his proposal for a candidate for Minister of the Interior.
Gripped by instability
Bulgaria, a country of 6.7 million inhabitants, has been mired in political instability since 2020, when massive protests against the corrupt politicians who had allowed the oligarchs to gain control of state institutions.
However, of the last six early elections, only two have led to an elected government. Both failed after reformist politicians tried to tackle political corruption and end energy dependence and security of the country of Russia.
The last elections, held in June, did not produce a clear winner. The legislature, fragmented into seven parties, was unable to form a viable coalition. The center-right GERB party, led by three-time Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, won the largest number of seats68, a figure very far from the majority in a Parliament of 240 seats. Borissov did not find coalition partners.
The crisis is expected to slow down Bulgaria’s plans to join the eurozone and to implement the necessary reforms to unlock EU recovery funds.
The spate of early elections has also dampened Bulgarians’ interest in politics. Apathy has increased and participation has decreasedwhile election campaigns are increasingly marred by propaganda and personal attacks. In fact, participation went from 50% in the April 2021 elections to 33% in June, the lowest since the end of the communist regime in 1989.
The provisional cabinet must also appoint a new Bulgarian EU Commissioner before Friday. GERB has proposed former Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva. Names are also being considered, such as that of the former president of the European Socialist Party, Sergei Stanishev, and that of the current Commissioner, Iliana Ivanova, a favorite of Ursula von der Leyen and the European Commission.
