site.btaUPDATED President Iotova Expects Next Caretaker PM to Meet Bulgarians’ Expectations

“My idea is for the next caretaker prime minister to respond to the expectations of Bulgarian citizens,” President Iliana Iotova told reporters in the village of Delchevo, Gotse Delchev Municipality, on Sunday. President Iotova is visiting Delchevo as a guest at the Wine Festival dedicated to Trifon Zarezan, the traditional Bulgarian celebration of vine growers and winemakers.

Iotova said she will announce the appointment of a caretaker prime minister after holding consultations with the parties in Parliament, which are set to begin on Tuesday.

Iotova thanked all candidates for caretaker prime minister from the list defined by the Constitution and described her talks with them as serious and responsible.

“The discussions were very substantive and covered an extremely broad range of important topics – from the most urgent tasks facing Bulgaria in the coming months to the key issue for any caretaker cabinet: how to restore public trust in elections and how to ensure the most honest and transparent electoral process possible,” Iotova said.

She added that she saw no distinction between the candidates who had declined the nomination and those who had accepted it. “All of them acted with great responsibility, because many crucial decisions lie ahead, including those related to the continued introduction of the euro. The fact that as of today we are working only in euros does not mean our work is done. We also discussed how to overcome the price shock, which directly affects Bulgarian citizens. We talked about foreign policy – what Bulgaria’s position should be from now on. Important international decisions are forthcoming. We also discussed how to achieve better coordination among institutions,” the head of State explained.

Iotova further said that she had asked the candidates willing to take on the post of caretaker prime minister how they intended to address existing problems so that elections would not be annulled again, citizens could vote calmly, and people could be confident that their votes would be properly counted. She also pointed out that uncertainty remains over what will happen with the amendments to the Electoral Code.