The first day of the 41st National Assembly on July 14 officially opened negotiations between the right-wing parties on the future cabinet.

As became clear on election night on July 5, the two parties who are part of the outgoing ruling coalition Government, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) will be in the sights of the other four parties in Parliament, all of whom, with the exception of ultra-nationalist Ataka party, claim to be right-wing.

On July 14, Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov’s party, the Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (abbreviated as GERB in Bulgarian) which won 116 seats in the 240-seat Parliament (or 39.17 per cent), said it would seek support for Borissov’s future cabinet from everyone except the BSP and the MRF.

According to GERB’s floor leader, and future Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, GERB was seeking political support at a Parliamentary level. "We will start negotiations with other centre-right parties but this will not be talks on forming a coalition based on bargaining about cabinet seats but, rather, about political support based on principles and priorities," he said.

He said that GERB’s 116 seats were insufficient for a stable majority in Parliament and that GERB was offering a political project for the European development of Bulgaria which everyone was welcome to support, except the BSP and the MRF. To this end, GERB would put forward a memorandum for political support to the new cabinet which Borissov is expected to form by July 27.

This was not what the right-wing Blue Coalition, which won 6.76 per cent or 15 seats, was preaching about a week after the elections. Martin Dimitrov, one of the Blue Coalition’s two leaders, persisted in claiming that the new GERB government would be unstable if the Blue Coalition were excluded. It seems, however, that Borissov is ready to form his own government with the aim of seeking other right-wing parties’ support by binding them with an agreement at Parliamentary level.

In a way, Borissov confirmed his plan, on July 14, by saying that other right-wing parties were more than welcome to propose any of their experts who have proven themselves capable. He said nothing about forming a coalition. Borissov made the comment hours after party leaders delivered opening speeches in Parliament. When Dimitrov spoke he avoided repeating his demand for a GERB-Blue Coalition government. "GERB won the elections, but the most important thing is that those parties who are members of the European People’s Party have a majority in Parliament that wants to make reforms," he said.  

The other two parties that GERB targeted for negotiations, Ataka (21 seats), and Yane Yane’s Order, Law and Justice (OLJ) party, who got 10 seats, also vowed to support Borissov provided GERB followed its promised route of reforms.

Common ground
With the focus of the negotiations on GERB’s will for reforms, Parliament’s first day raised questions about GERB’s compatibility with possible allies. So far everyone agrees about the urgency of action on several fronts. The first is to update the frame of the state budget. The second is to reduce the number of state administration employees. Lastly, to investigate deals signed by the outgoing Cabinet and to draft a new set of election rules and investigate election results for violations.

The Blue Coalition and OLJ also demanded a change to the constitution. The Blue Coalition said this was needed to reform (in its pre-trial phase) the country’s judiciary. "The Prosecutor-General should be appointed by Parliament, not by the Supreme Judicial Council," Dimitrov said. A week ago, however, when Borissov met Prosecutor-General Boris Velchev, he assured him of his support and said "the Prosecutor-General’s Office belongs with the judiciary, not with the executive", which contradicts Dimitrov’s idea for radical change.

The Blue Coalition’s other main election slogan was cutting down on public administration at all levels. The newly-elected Speaker of Parliament, GERB’s Tsetska Tsacheva, however, said that one of GERB’s first actions in Parliament would be to amend the Interior Ministry Act and the Local Administration Act so that a municipal crime-busting police force can be set up under mayoral jurisdiction.

As for Ataka’s ideas, GERB would also have problems finding the balance between their support and GERB’s EU partners. On July 14, Ataka filed several draft bills, all of which condemn Turkey. So far it seems that OLJ is the only party that is ready to support GERB almost unconditionally. All they demand are constitutional changes such as cutting the number of MPs, removing the immunity of MPs and magistrates and reforming the judiciary – all of which are far removed from Ataka’s radical agenda.