site.btaUPDATED CC–DB Returns Mandate to Form Government Unfulfilled

Nadejda Iordanova of Continue the Change–Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), the second largest group in Parliament, returned an exploratory mandate to form a government as unfulfilled immediately after receiving it from President Rumen Radev on Wednesday.

“The big question is not when the elections will be held, but what kind of elections we will be holding,” President Rumen Radev said after CC–DB returned the mandate to form a government unfulfilled.

With this refusal, the possibilities for forming a government within the framework of the 51st National Assembly have been significantly narrowed, the head of state said. He noted that he expects political party leaders not to tell him when to schedule elections, but to show political initiative and responsibility, to familiarize themselves with the Constitutional Court’s decision of March 13 2025, which, in the president’s words, “describes only part of the irregularities during the last parliamentary elections.”

Radev called on all parties in parliament to work to increase trust in the electoral process. He urged the parties to look back at the past five to six years to identify when elections were the most honest, transparent, and trusted, with the fastest and most objective reporting of results, and to undertake the necessary legislative changes so that every Bulgarian citizen can be confident that their vote will be counted correctly, the President said.

Nadejda Iordanova told the President that, by a decision of her parliamentary group, she had been formally tasked with carrying out the procedure of accepting the mandate and immediately returning it unfulfilled. The decision of CC–DB to return the mandate unfulfilled is motivated by the fact that the 51st National Assembly cannot have a reformist majority capable of dismantling the model of a captured state, Iordanova said. She stated that the hundreds of thousands of people in the streets during the November-December 2025 protests have made it clear that they want immediate fair elections, and that this is the central issue occupying society and politicians alike—to ensure a transparent, honest, and free electoral process.

Iordanova said that CC–DB have repeatedly maintained that the best, most transparent, and most trouble-free elections took place when Bulgarians voted 100% using voting machines. At that time, the vote was counted the fastest and with the fewest irregularities, she said. For this reason, PP–DB insist that this procedure be reinstated and are deeply concerned that the outgoing majority is attempting to override the will of the Bulgarian people and hastily, in secrecy, impose so-called scanning devices, Iordanova noted. According to her, it is evident that this has been prepared in the parliamentary legal committee. We will oppose all such attempts to compromise the integrity of the voters’ will, she emphasized.

Iordanova called on citizens to gather this evening at 6:00 p.m. at Independence Square to express their will and demand fair elections. The only way to restore trust in the institutions is for a large number of people to vote as soon as possible and to be confident that their vote will be counted correctly, Iordanova stated.

At a news briefing in the corridors of Parliament, Continue the Change leader Assen Vassilev said that March 29 is the perfect date for the snap elections (considering the holiday calendar).

GERB like this date for the vote as well.

Background

On January 12, outgoing Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov returned a mandate to form a new Cabinet on behalf of the largest parliamentary group, GERB-UDF, immediately after receiving it from President Rumen Radev. Radev said he would mandate the second-largest parliamentary group, CC-DB, to form a government "in the coming days". On January 10, Ivaylo Mirchev MP of CC-DB said that they will return the mandate immediately.

On December 11, 2025, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov tendered the Cabinet's resignation following nationwide protests against the 2026 budget bill and corruption.

Radev held consultations with the parliamentary groups on December 15-19. They expressed the view that a new government cannot or should not be formed in this Parliament and that early parliamentary elections are needed.

Under the Bulgarian Constitution, when a government resigns, it continues to perform its functions until a new regular cabinet is elected or a caretaker one appointed. The National Assembly also continues to function until a new legislature is elected and sworn in.

After consultations with the parliamentary groups, the President mandates the largest group to form a government, followed by the second largest if the first attempt fails. If both are unsuccessful, a third mandate is given to a group chosen by the President. Should all three fail, the President appoints a caretaker government and calls early parliamentary elections within two months.