In Bulgaria, the government of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, which has only been in office for six months, was overthrown by a vote of no confidence in parliament. On Wednesday evening in Sofia, 123 MPs voted in favor of the motion of no confidence brought by the largest opposition party, Gerb, and 116 against it, as Vice-President Miroslaw Ivanov announced. The votes of at least 121 of the 240 deputies were required.
It was the first successful no-confidence vote in Bulgaria’s democratic history. The previous governing coalition, which was only formed at the end of last year, broke up in early June when the populist ITN party led by singer Slawi Trifonov announced its withdrawal from the four-party alliance led by Petkov.
“Government Failure”
With its vote, the conservative Gerb party of ex-Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said it was reacting to “the government’s failure in the areas of public finances and economic policy”. Bulgaria is the poorest member state of the EU.
After the no-confidence vote, President Rumen Radev can now try three times to commission other parties with the search for a government majority. If this fails, Parliament will be dissolved. New elections must then take place within two months. It would be the fourth ballot since last year in the country with its 6.5 million inhabitants.
