March 18 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria’s president Rumen Radev on Monday handed Mariya Gabriel, the prime minister-designate of GERB-UDF - the winner of last year's 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 public TV BNT.
Earlier this month, Bulgaria's parliament accepted the resignation of prime minister Nikolay Denkov of WCC-DB, the second largest political formation in parliament, 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 said negotiations between the GERB-UDF and WCC-DB will continue this afternoon and hopes that they will be finalised in the next 24 hours.
"We have no differences in terms of the country's priorities. What is important is that the priorities, the reforms and the government go hand in hand," Gabriel noted.
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 at least 121 members of 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.