site.btaUPDATED PM Says It Is Not the Right Time for Elections

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said here Friday that it is not the right time for elections. He was speaking after a meeting of the top leadership of the GERB party and his remarks were streamed live on Facebook. 

Attending the meeting were also the GERB regional coordinators, the government ministers, MPs and mayors. 

Zhelyazkov said that although his party, being the leading political force in the country, "can easily raise the question of early elections, now is not the time". He emphasized that calling elections would mean voting in February, right at the start of a challenging year marked by budgetary pressures, the planned introduction of the euro, and a volatile geopolitical environment.

Commenting on recent local elections in Pazardzhik where MRF-New Beginning emerged as the leading force while GERB slumped to the sixth position, Zhelyazkov, said the results "serve as a litmus test, indicating that the coalition needs to engage in serious discussions". He noted that talks with BSP and There Is Such a People (TISP) had already begun, with further discussions scheduled for Monday.

"Our colleagues expressed a willingness to approach the matter with political responsibility and acknowledged the need for this government to have solid political support within the coalition. But we need to have that conversation — so that the responsibility doesn’t rest solely on GERB," Zhelyazkov said.

According to him, political responsibility should be equally shared, not proportionally divided.

He stressed the need for a stable parliamentary majority with a clear commitment to addressing upcoming challenges. He added that elections would not solve anything, and instead, what is required is shared political responsibility involving all coalition partners. 

The government skipped its regular meeting this week and Parliament has been unable to secure quorum for a third day now and is not sitting. That is exactly three days after Borissov said that the GERB deputies should head for their constituencies to meet with people. It was his reaction to the outcome of local elections in Pazardzhik where MRF-New Beginning emerged as the leading force and GERB slumped to the sixth position. "I see no place for GERB in such a government. We are the sixth-largest force," he said on October 14, triggering talk of imminent early elections.

Borissov's remark prompted MRF - New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski to say that they were ready to officially "share the government responsibility". Also, he said earlier on Friday that "there will be no elections". 

What the Prime Minister also said:

This government, formed through a complex coalition formula, was created with several key objectives: restoring macroeconomic stability and fiscal discipline, regaining trust in the use of Recovery and Resilience Plan funds, and securing Bulgaria’s entry into the eurozone on January 1st of next year. Many of these tasks are not universally accepted by society and are being used by our main political opponents to sow distrust and hatred. Naturally, this reflects on our party. GERB bears both the responsibility and the loss of trust, especially in key areas where difficult political decisions are met with mixed reactions.

We are about to submit the draft state budget for 2026, which addresses the challenges of the coming year — a year that is also an election year. The presidential elections will become a political wager on the country’s future geopolitical orientation.

With the euro, the Bulgarian economy will function better in the years to come. But we need to go through the [euro adoption] process steadily and smoothly at the beginning of next year. That’s why stability is needed, because the sabotage of the government and the rising social tensions — the full palette we’ve seen since the start of this political season — are still ahead of us. And if Parliament fails to achieve consensus and social peace, then we will have no choice but to go to elections — with the clear understanding that elections will solve nothing.