The three leaders of the ruling coalition, Bulgarian Socialist Party's (BSP) Sergei Stanishev, Movement for Rights and Freedoms' (MRF) Ahmed Dogan and National Movement for Stability and Progress' (NMSP) Simeon Saxe-Coburg refused to shed any light on the issue of a possible Cabinet reshuffle in the near future, a topic that has generated intense media speculation in recent weeks.

Meeting in Hisarya on February 9-10 2008 for a scheduled session of the political council of the three-way coalition, Stanishev, Dogan and Saxe-Coburg only beat about the bush and avoided any direct answers, mediapool.bg said.

Prime Minister Stanishev said the cabinet changes depended on political expedience. Dogan elaborated, saying the point of the meeting in Hisarya council was to update the coalition's governance programme and should it require personnel changes, then "what the media is thinking about may happen“. Saxe-Coburg was also far from clear on the topic of possible replacement of NMSP ministers, saying there was too much "virtual politicking and speculation" going on. He went as far as to accuse the media of conspiracy and campaigning against his party, as quoted by mediapool.bg.

Stanishev said no cabinet changes whatsoever would be made based on pressure or „at the wish of one media or another“, although he cautioned Cabinet members against thinking they were insured against losing their portfolios. „My assessment, however, is that the cabinet is functional, efficient enough and that it is carrying out reforms,“ Stanishev said, adding that every minister can do better and that each of them, including Stanishev himself, should carry their resignations in their pockets.

The meetings, however, were not open to the media, which the PM defended, saying that the participants needed to concentrate. „Do you want us to make the coalition council session a Big Brother show?“, he asked the assembled journalists, mediapool.bg reported.

The three party leaders focused their talks on issues that would be tackled for the rest of the Cabinet's term, including the creation of a Bulgarian energy holding in 2009, a fast-track privatisation of tobacco monopoly Bulgartabac, closing down duty-free shops and building petrol stations at Bulgaria's land borders, Dnevnik daily said.

Claiming to have carried out most of the goals set out in the coalition's current governance programme, the updates would remain in effect until 2013, with the three parties hoping to continue working together after the 2009 parliamentary elections. Although the parties will run separately in the next polls, they would meet again after the elections for coalition talks.

The three parties also made headway on one of the most contentious issues, the healthcare reform, agreeing to put an end to the monopoly the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and allowing private health insurance funds into the market, although they stopped short of presenting a detailed plan of how that would happen.

And in a move to improve the business climate in the country, a drastic simplification of the regulatory and license framework was promised once again again. The Cabinet would keep in place only those licenses that are required by the Bulgarian constitution and the EU, with 26 different licenses would be removed. Their complete list is expected to be ready in a month's time, Dnevnik daily said.