Sensational Prognosis: President Radev Will Disband New Parliament on 13 May

The plenary hall of the new parliament may well be empty again after May 13. This is the critical date by which we will have known whether there will be another election because of impossibility to form a government, writes Trud daily.

The ratio between the political forces in the 45th National Assembly will also prove to be a problem when adopting a new Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly.

The first session of the new parliament is expected to be held this Thursday, when President Rumen Radev is due to convene lawmakers. However, they will start work under the old rules which provide for a fixed 10-day Easter recess starting on Good Friday (April 30). So far, no National Assembly has ever changed the dates of this parliamentary recess.

On the first day, the MPs will take the oath, elect a speaker of parliament, and the government of Boyko Borisov will resign. The NA must extend the 44th parliament's rules of procedure on day one. The president must then enter into consultations with parliamentary groups to form a cabinet. The Constitution does not say how long these consultations can last, but political observers believe that Rumen Radev will not protract them, but will act fast.

There are no obstacles for him to hold consultations with the parliamentary groups as early as 19 April. These consultations may be completed within a day or two. After that, the President shall serve an exploratory mandate to a person designated by the largest parliamentary group, GERB. Within seven days GERB must propose a prime minister and a government. If they do, the president submits this proposal to the NA. A government is formed after two votes of the National Assembly - first a vote for prime minister and then on the composition of the...