There were 35 members of parliament of the National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMSP) left after Encho Malev announced on January 18 that he was leaving the party to join Bulgarian New Democracy (BND). With this, BND now counted 17 MPs and became the largest opposition party, mediapool.bg said.

"NMSP should have left the coalition a long time ago. Constant compromises which we have been forced to make, have led to the party losing its identity," Malev motivated his decision.

Borislav Ralchev, leader of BND said that it was only natural for Malev to leave NMSP as he had long expressed his positions. Of course BND was glad to accept him as a member, Ralchev said, as Malev shared the ideas of BND. "Malev is a business man, he comes from a serious branch, agriculture, and he will defend our position in this field," Ralchev said.

Ralchev said that Malev had personal problems which delayed his leaving NMSP and joining BND.

NMSP started to fall apart when its leader Simeon Saxe-Coburg expelled four of its MPs. The following days a wave of MPs left the party to form the BND, which now positions itself as an opposition.