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Cause and Effect in European Politics and Law

Parvanov insists this time a government to be formed with the first mandate

Adelina Marini, May 22, 2009

This time the government should be formed with the first mandate, says the Bulgarian president Gheorghi Parvanov. In an interview for the "Standard" daily newspaper he says: "In each case I think that it would be much better, not to say it is obligatory, not to repeat 2005 and the government to be formed with the first mandate. With the mandate of the winners. My experience shows that with each step the negotiations complicate and lead to inner division, including in the Council of ministers". In 2005 the BSP (Bulgarian socialist party) won most votes but couldn't form a government and the president gave a mandate to the second party - NDSV (Movement for stability and progress of ex prime minister and tsar Simeon Saxecobourggotta), but after long deliberations they returned the mandate and thus the DPS (Movement for rights and freedoms, perceived as Turkish ethnic party) formed the tripartite coalition and that brought the president with the nickname "the architect of the triple coalition".

Further in his interview the president justified his decision then in 2005 by saying: "The fact that in the beginning of the mandate of this coalition we've realised our strategic goals for EU membership, for me justifies the creation of the coalition. There are, of course, many specific remarks and criticism that I have made during the ruling of the coalition but, as a whole, the results from the government are positive. This was a constructive period in Bulgaria's development".

Gheorghi Parvanov howsoever criticised the tripartite coalition because quite often it was difficult for the three parties to agree on any decision. He also said that the approving of key appointments in the very last moment was immoral. Tomorrow the president will share his views about how to tackle the crisis.