site.btaParliament Abandons Debate on 2026 NHIF and State Budget Bills

MPs re-voted and rejected the proposal to include the draft budget of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and the budget bill for 2026 on the agenda. Fourteen MPs from BSP–United Left voted in favour of debating the two bills at first reading, 97 voted against, and 77 abstained.

Before the session was interrupted due to a dispute among MPs, Parliament had approved the inclusion of both draft budgets on the agenda for discussion today with 124 votes in favor, 90 against, and 9 abstentions. The proposal was supported by MPs from GERB–UDF, MRF-New Beginning, BSP–United Left, There Is Such a People (TISP), and two independent MPs. Subsequently, GERB–UDF and TISP said that in the plenary hall they would support only the budget extension bill, which is included in this week’s parliamentary agenda.

BSP–United Left called for the 2026 budget, which had been agreed upon with trade unions and employers, to be voted through. “Anyone who wants to revise it and submit a different one in three months can do so,” said BSP-United Left floor leader Dragomir Stoynev. “At the moment, the political crisis will be shifted onto the people, onto the socially weak and vulnerable,” he commented. “You are preparing to adopt a three-month budget, even though it is uncertain whether there will be a government in three months,” Stoynev added.