site.btaZhelyazkov Cabinet Survives Third No-Confidence Vote Over Fiscal Policy, Faces Fourth Next Week

The government of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov Friday survived its third no-confidence vote. It was over its fiscal policy.

It was backed by the parties that supported its submission: Vazrazhdane, MECh and Velichie. The votes against the motion came from GERB-UDF, MRF - New Beginning, BSP - United Left and There Is Such a People, as well as four unaffiliated deputies. Continue the Change and Alliance for Rights and Freedoms did not participate in the vote. 

“For more than 35 years, Bulgarian citizens have followed a clear direction: the full European integration of Bulgaria. Motions of no confidence like the current one clearly do not aim to bring down the government, but rather to attempt, if not to derail, then at least to delay Bulgaria on this path,” Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov told journalists on Friday after the majority in Parliament rejected the no-confidence motion.

GERB-UDF Deputy Chair Denitsa Sacheva, commenting on the third motion of no confidence, said that this was yet another "doomed no-confidence vote, submitted by the opposition with full awareness that it would not pass, simply to waste the National Assembly’s time." She described the initiative as a pointless exercise that squandered citizens' time.

After Bulgaria's official accession to the euro area, Continue the Change (CC) will discuss and decide on an individual basis whether to support every no-confidence motion tabled against the Government, CC leader Assen Vassilev told journalists. Earlier on Friday, the CC's coalition partners from Democratic Bulgaria said they do not expect a vote of no confidence before September.

“Elections will be held in the year when the four-year term [of the government] ends,” Movement for Rights and Freedoms - New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski told journalists after the vote on the third motion of no confidence. “Everyone needs to wake up, stop wasting time, and get to work for the people, do the job we were sent here for,” Peevski added.

This is not a cabinet of Boyko Borissov but a cabinet of Delyan Peevski, Velichie party leader Ivelin Mihaylov told journalists after the failed no-confidence vote against the government.

The Velichie parliamentary group will hold talks with the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF) and Continue the Change (CC) about supporting their motion of no confidence against the Government over its environmental policy, Mihaylov added. However, Mihaylov does not expect anything from them because "they have dependencies." 

On Thursday, Velichie moved for a fourth no-confidence vote against the Zhelyazkov government over what the party sees as a “failure in the policy on environmental protection.” Mihaylov commented that Velichie’s motion still stands, despite the failure of the Vazrazhdane vote, which was on the topic of fiscal policy. Velichie’s proposal is supported by the signatures of Vazrazhdane and MECh. It is expected to be considered by the National Assembly next week.