The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) will support all measures designed to combat the effects of the economic crisis on Bulgaria provided that they are well thought through, Luytvi Mestan, deputy floor leader of the MRF, said during his speech on the opening day of the 41^st National Assembly on July 14 2009.

The MRF is part of the outgoing coalition Government, together with the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Stability and Progress. The Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), which won the largest share of seats at the elections,  has already said that it would not seek the support of the parties that formed the tripartite coalition.

"We will not allow the ruling majority to find excuses for their future failures within the MRF," Mestan said. "This doesn't mean that we don't wish them luck, on the contrary, we wish farewell to the 41^st National Assembly," he said.

Mestan said that there was bitter irony in the fact that the MRF was considered a good political partner when "one needs a partner to rule and at the same time a suitable excuse when one is facing failure".

Bringing the BSP and the MRF down was a good strategy for winning elections but was no substitute for a programme when in government, Mestan said, noting that the nature of the new programme was still vague. The content of this programme would define the MRF's behaviour as an opposition force, he said.

We believe that the successful rule of the country in times of economic crisis is possible when the entire country's potential is put in use. As a constructive opposition, we will take part in the process by putting forward ideas and expertise."

The MRF had long ago cast Bulgaria's national interest as a priority of its policies, hence the party would not act either as a quiet opposition or as a destructive force, Mestan said.

"We see no drama in the fact that we will be in opposition because our political culture makes us accept the role we have been given by our voters."

The MRF has been in power since 2001 when it formed a ruling coalition with the NMSP.

He noted that the MRF had scored an "unprecedented increase of its voters support by 31 per cent (on 2005) with more than 610 000 people voting for the party at the July 5 2009 elections.

"All these people are part of the Bulgarian nation and their equal treatment depends on whether we accept ther vote as equal to the votes of the rest of the voters," Mestan said, referring to statements that the MRF was mainly supported by Muslim Bulgarians of Turkish decent.

The attitude towards the MRF was a fundamental problem for the normal functioning of democracy in Bulgaria and a sign of the democratic culture in the country, he said.