`Political Bravery Needed`: Bulgarian Prime Minister Resigns a Day Early
Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov has submitted his resignation to the National Assembly's Department of Document Registration, the Government Information Service reported yesterday, BTA reports.
The National Assembly voted in favour of a "draft resolution on accepting the resignation of the Prime Minister" at a plenary session on Wednesday, which began at 9:00 am. According to the parliament's website, this first item on the legislature's agenda was moved by the parliamentary group "Continue Change - Democratic Bulgaria" (CC-DB).
The news came about half an hour before the press release from the Government Information Service.
"This is not a political game, but a keeping of the word, a manifestation of continuity, political fair play and respect for citizens," Denkov said in a statement to the media.
"I am now fulfilling the commitments we made in a joint declaration on 6 June 2023," he added.
The prime minister was referring to an agreement made between the two largest groups in the current parliament, CC-DB and FDP, according to which Denkov and Maria Gabriel of FDP were to alternate as prime minister and deputy prime minister for a period of time, starting with Denkov. In accordance with this agreement, the two parliamentary coalitions plus the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (RFS) voted to appoint Denkov's Cabinet on 6 June 2023. The rotation was to take place on 6 March 2024.
"So far, we are fulfilling every point and every line of the declaration, although the dialogue has sometimes been overblown and deadlocked. We are approaching the key, sixth point: the creation of a mechanism for preliminary coordination between the parliaments of the group on candidates for the regulatory authorities elected by the parliament in order to ensure the best selection of persons with a high professional and moral level," the Prime Minister said.
He called on political forces to keep their word.
"In the next nine months, we must go through the entire path of reforms that we outlined in June," Denkov added, arguing that "political courage is needed" to "break regulators out of clan and family relations so that they regulate social relations rather than use them as a baton to raid businesses, so that it is clear who is raising prices in this country and on whose instructions."
The prime minister called Tuesday's resignation "another invitation to negotiate" on the issues that concern people.
"I must clearly assure Bulgarian citizens that the government will continue to fulfil its responsibilities and will work as it has done in the past to increase revenues, create a stable business climate, strengthen national security and consolidate Bulgaria's position in international relations until the election of the next government," Denkov said.