President Meets with Three Smallest Parliamentary Groups, Says Caretaker PM Candidate to Be Announced Shortly

Diana Dukovska, Nikolay Trifonov, Yoana Hristova

President Iliana Iotova holds consultations prior to naming a caretaker prime minister, Sofia, February 10, 2026 (BTA Photo/Blagoy Kirilov)

Sofia,

10.02.2026 17:57

(BTA)

President Iliana Iotova Tuesday concluded consultations with parliamentary groups on the appointment of a caretaker prime minister. During the consultations, the three smallest parliamentary groups - the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF), MECh and Velichie - indicated that they believe Bulgarian National Bank Deputy Governor Andrey Gurov should take the post. Iotova said she would announce her nominee in the coming days.

Under the 2023 constitutional amendments, following consultations with parliamentary groups and upon a proposal by the caretaker prime minister-designate, the President appoints a caretaker government and schedules early elections within two months. The Constitution lists ten senior public officials as eligible for the office of caretaker prime minister: the National Assembly chair, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) governor and the three deputy governors, the Bulgarian National Audit Office (BNAO) president and the two vice presidents, and the National Ombudsman and the Deputy Ombudsman. Of the ten Iotova met with in late January, five said they were ready to serve as caretaker prime minister: BNB Deputy Governor Andrey Gurov, BNAO President Dimitar Glavchev and Vice Presidents Margarita Nikolova and Silvia Kadreva, and Deputy Ombudsman Maria Filipova.

On Tuesday, ARF Floor Leader Hairi Sadakov said that in a pre-election context, society expects a caretaker prime minister and cabinet that can guarantee fair and transparent elections, ensuring zero tolerance for vote-buying and corporate voting, as well as fully restricting opportunities for vote manipulation after election day. He also commented on the amendments to the Election Code adopted at second reading, under which up to 20 polling stations may be opened outside Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions in non-EU countries. He urged Iotova to veto the changes, arguing that the restriction contradicts many internationally accepted human-rights instruments and violates the Bulgarian Constitution.

Iotova thanked ARF for attending the meeting. "For me, this is an expression of the will to work together, all institutions, to guide the country through the severe parliamentary, and not only parliamentary, crisis. We must face the growing number of challenges before us."

MECh party leader Radostin Vasilev said his parliamentary group would no longer take part in the consultations, calling them meaningless. He claimed Iotova was deliberately dragging out the process, "possibly to give former President (2017-2026) Rumen Radev time to form a political party". Vasilev argued that Iotova had a moral obligation to resign together with Radev when he stepped down as president. According to him, public perception is that Radev used the presidential institution to create a party, while Iotova is using her position for a future presidential campaign. The MPs of MECh walked out without waiting to hear Iotova's response.

President Iotova said that she does not renounce her biography in any way. She noted that her record is clear and transparent to all Bulgarian citizens, who have elected her multiple times as a member of the national parliament and of the European Parliament, and as vice president. "Obviously, they [MECh] came here to make statements for their election campaign," Iotova said after the MPs left.

Velichie Floor Leader Ivelin Mihaylov said the public has no trust in institutions, nor in the media, and rightly so. He said the caretaker government must restore the truth, act transparently from the start, and address obvious issues to reassure the public. Mihaylov told reporters that while he does not know any of the other candidates, he supports Gurov as a counterpoint to everything that [GERB leader Boyko] Borissov and [MRF-New Beginning leader] Peevski have presented in the other direction".

For her part, Iotova said the caretaker cabinet must first and foremost resolve the issue of the elections. They must be fair, transparent and well-organized. "You became a hostage to the previous elections and, for the first time in our history, results were annulled due to mistakes and abuses during the election process," Iotova told the MPs of Velichie. In response to Mihaylov's call on the media not to be "a tool in someone's hands," the President said that if the media had not reported much of what happened at the polling stations in 2024, Velichie would not be in the National Assembly now.

On February 3, the President held consultations with the two largest parliamentary groups, GERB-UDF and Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria. On February 4, Iotova held consultations with MRF-New Beginning, BSP-United Left and There Is Such a People. She said at the time that she and her team would do their best to schedule snap elections on April 19, the first Sunday after Easter Sunday. On February 2, Vazrazhdane, which is the third largest group in Parliament, said that the party categorically rejected Iotova's invitation as it would not support any postponement of the elections, and called on the President to move forward with the caretaker cabinet's appointment.

/RY/