Snap Elections On The Horizon: How Did We Get Here?

Today, "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria" (WCC-DB) proposed the implementation of the second mandate with a prime minister from GERB, along with signing an agreement on reforms in the judicial system, security services, and regulators. However, Boyko Borissov's party (GERB) rejected this proposal.

This development occurred shortly after the parliament acknowledged the failure of GERB's first mandate with Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel.

The announcement follows weeks of disagreement between GERB and WCC-DB regarding the potential continuation of their coalition government. This disagreement coincided with the planned rotation of the prime minister position between Nikolai Denkov and Mariya Gabriel. Key points of contention included the composition of the Cabinet of Ministers and the terms of the reform agreement.

Later in the day, President Rumen Radev declared that he would hand over the second mandate to WCC-DB on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

According to the Constitution, in the event of the unsuccessful implementation of the first mandate, the second mandate must be transferred to the second most influential parliamentary group, which is WCC-DB. All parties except 'Revival' have stated their refusal to support a second term and have committed to returning the unfulfilled third term if awarded.

Subsequently, the president allocates the third mandate to a party outside the top two parliamentary groups.

If no government is formed with any of the three mandates, the next course of action is early elections, followed by the appointment of a caretaker government by the president.

Failure of the first mandate

On Tuesday, a draft resolution declaring the first attempt to form a government...