Parliament Rejects Second No-Confidence Motion against Denkov Cabinet

UPDATED Parliament Rejects Second No-Confidence Motion against Denkov Cabinet

Nikolay Zabov, Yoanna Vodenova

The National Assembly (BTA Photo)

Sofia,

22.11.2023 09:51 | UPDATED 22.11.2023 14:11

(BTA)

Parliament rejected a second no-confidence motion here Wednesday morning against the cabinet of Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov cabinet over "the government's inability to guarantee national security and the country's defence". In favour of the motion were 71 MPs, against were 155.

Parliament Chair Rosen Zhelyazkov announced that the motion is defeated given that the required minimum of 121 votes out of possible 240 was not collected.

In the re-vote, 63 MPs from GERB-UDF, 58 from Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) and 34 from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) voted against the motion and in favour of the cabinet. In favour of the no-confidence motion against the cabinet voted one GERB-UDF MP, 35 from Vazrazhdane, 23 from the Bulgarian Socialist Party, 11 from There Is Such a People (TISP) and one independent MP.

REACTIONS TO THE MOTION

After the motion, GERB-UDF leader Boyko Borissov told reporters that "the real drama will come during the rotation". According to Borissov, the cabinet will stand if entire sectors realize that GERB together with CC-DB are a force for good. "However, if the practice of looking for scandals instead of unifying themes continues, the best is to break up this assemblage and go to new negotiations, to new elections," he said.

MRF floor leader Delyan Peevski called the motion a ridiculous thing and a waste of time.

TISP floor leader Toshko Yordanov read a statement before the motion, which stated that "we live in a country where nothing is right, and everything is wrong at all levels", for which he blamed the government.

Bulgarian Socialist Party leader Korneliya Ninova commented that the no-confidence motion was rejected as expected but more important is what is happening with the state budget, especially the budget for municipalities. "Yesterday at noon the Finance Ministry sent a letter to all mayors to hand in their projects to be included in the budget by the evening," she said. According to her, the government was using the moment to push through "the right list of the right municipalities for the right companies."

/NZ/