site.btaPM-designate Gabriel Expected to Tell Parliament that She Withdraws

Prime Minister-designate Mariya Gabriel is expected Monday to inform Parliament of her decision to withdraw as the proposed government leader. Gabriel announced her plan at a news conference on Sunday.

She also said that her party is not going to participate in negotiations on the formation of a government when the President offers a mandate to the second largest group in Parliament, Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB).

In a statement on the Bulgarian National Television on Sunday, outgoing Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov urged the GERB leadership to sign an agreement with CC-DB and form a government with Gabriel as Prime Minister and all other ministers remaining unchanged from the Denkov cabinet.

Following long talks between GERB-UDF and CC-DB, on March 19, Mariya Gabriel announced that she was ready with a coalition government and President Rumen Radev issued a decree asking Parliament to vote Gabriel into office as Prime Minister. Then CC-DB said that the proposed government had not been endorsed by them and they would not participate. Talks with GERB resumed in a quiet manner - until GERB-UDF announced Sunday that they quit.