Bulgaria's governing coalition collapses
The dispute in Bulgaria's governing coalition has escalated: the populist ITN party led by pop-rock singer Slavi Trifonov announced its withdrawal from the four-party coalition, whereupon Prime Minister Kiril Petkov proposed the formation of a minority government. The dispute started over Petkov's desire for a rapprochement with neighbouring North Macedonia. Could new elections solve the problem?
Back to the corrupt status quo
Party founder Trifonov is turning the clock back on the country, Fakti.bg rages:
“With the world's geopolitical problems, as well as the energy, financial and other crises, Trifonov's actions only go against Bulgaria's interests. Certainly, the inexperienced parties in government have made many mistakes during their few months in power, but what Slavi Trifonov is doing now is putting the country into the hands of the oligarchs and bringing back the status quo that we fought against for more than 12 years.”
Minority government only an interim solution
A minority government would only exacerbate the already difficult political situation, says 24 Chasa:
“It would merely transfer coalition disputes from the government to the parliament. We can assume that the talks in parliament will merely become more difficult, the thumbscrews tighter, the demands harsher and the political pitfalls more insidious. Given the many dividing lines between the parties in parliament, a minority government can only be an interim solution on the path to new elections.”
Russia's influence could increase
Pro-Russian populists stand to benefit most from new elections, Kapital warns:
“At first glance, new elections would be the easiest way out of the crisis. However, they would again produce a highly fragmented parliament, with one major difference: ITN could fail to secure the [necessary four] percent to enter parliament, while the [national populist party] Vazrazhdane [Renaissance] as well as the new [pro-Russian] party of [ex-defence minister] Stefan Yanev could shift the current positions of the other parties. Politically, this means that Russia's influence in the country and anti-Western propaganda labelled as 'patriotism' and neutrality would gain even more ground.”