Bulgaria PM Returns Govt Mandate to President

Bulgaria's outgoing Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has returned the mandate to form a government on Friday after receiving it from President Rosen Plevneliev.

Borisov has only kept the mandate for less than a minute.

He has made clear his party, GERB, which is the biggest in Parliament, will not seek a new cabinet within the current legislature.

Borisov's move means Plevneliev will have to give the mandate to the second-largest party, socialist BSP, next year. The BSP has said it will also refrain from seeking a new government.