Political parties

"GERB puts the government and the work of the parliament at risk by relying on floating majorities with which they push their decisions", the deputy from "We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria" Kiril Petkov warned today in the parliament. He refers to the failed two hearings of the Minister of Justice Atanas Slavov yesterday - in the plenary hall and before the legal committee.

If Turkey wishes to come closer to Europe and make an opening to the West, Greek-Turkish dialog must resume, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is leading the polls ahead of Sunday's parliamentary elections, said on Wednesday.

The Anti-Corruption Commission i.e. the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property (KPKONPI) will be divided in two.
This was decided by the parliament, adopting in the first reading the Law on combating corruption among persons occupying high public positions.

Iliana Ivanova, a member of the European Court of Auditors, is GERB's nominee for European Commissioner, said party leader Boyko Borissov.

Daniel Laurer will be one of the two candidates for Bulgaria's European Commissioner. The decision of Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov is for GERB-SDS to nominate a candidate as well.

So far, the coalition has not commented on who they will nominate. It is possible that they nominate Eva Maidel.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has hinted at the possibility of expanding the six-party Nation Alliance.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has expressed his support for Türkiye's new economic administration and emphasized the necessity of raising interest rates.

Bahçeli's remarks came ahead of the highly anticipated interest rate decision by the Central Bank, which is expected to be announced in the coming days.

If the combined vote of the parties that will remain outside of Parliament in the June 25 election is between 6% and 9%, the crucial threshold for New Democracy in order to win a "safe" outright majority (in the region of 158 seats) will be 40%. 

ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis wants his party to win a "safe majority" of 158 seats in order to govern with stability.

PASOK-Movement for Change (KINAL) leader Nikos Androulakis interprets the result of the May 21 election, which gave the conservatives a 20-percentage point lead over the main opposition, as a failure of SYRIZA and categorically dismisses any possibility of cooperation with New Democracy, even if the latter does not secure an outright majority.

New Democracy is clearly concerned that if the ultranationalist Niki party makes it into the next Parliament, it could gnaw away at the conservatives' majority, and this concern has prompted an effort to repatriate part of the far-right vote and redefine the party's agenda.