March 18 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria’s president Rumen Radev on Monday handed Mariya Gabriel, the prime minister-designate of GERB-UDF - the winner of the latest general election - a mandate to form a government.
"I accept the mandate on behalf of GERB-UDF with a sense of responsibility. [...] Bulgaria needs stability, which is built on clear principles, principles of publicity, shared responsibility and equality of those who decide to bear the responsibility for Bulgaria," Gabriel, who has been serving as deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister since June 6, 2023, said, as seen in a live broadcast by state broadcaster BNT.
Earlier this month, Bulgaria's parliament accepted the resignation of prime minister Nikolay Denkov of WCC-DB, opening the way for a rotation of government agreed upon earlier under a power-sharing deal between GERB-UDF and WCC-DB. As part of the agreement, Gabriel is set to take over the post of prime minister from Denkov for the next nine months.
Gabriel has one week to put together a cabinet or return the mandate unfulfilled. For a proposed cabinet to take office, it needs support from 121 MPs in the 240-seat National Assembly.
If the mandate is not fulfilled or the proposed cabinet fails to gain parliamentary approval, the president will hand an exploratory mandate to the WCC-DB coalition.
Denkov's cabinet will continue to carry out its duties until a new prime minister is elected.
Following the snap election held on April 2 last year, GERB-UDF has 69 seats in parliament, while WCC-DB controls 63.