Bulgaria: what next after government resigns?
Following mass protests against the draft budget and corruption, the Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and his entire government have resigned. "We hear the voices of the people who are protesting against the government," said Zhelyazkov, who formed a minority multi-party coalition government last January. The options now: an attempt to form a new government or snap elections.
A tactical retreat
The government's resignation is just a first step; it's what comes next that matters, stresses Deutsche Welle's Bulgarian service:
“This is an undeniable victory for Bulgarian democracy, because the citizens have now become a corrective force for a self-absorbed majority and its leaders. ... But the government's resignation is not yet a catharsis, and even less so for its leaders. They see it as a tactical retreat, a temporary withdrawal, a way of avoiding the hardest blow. ... So it's critical that the protests do not ease up, but rather intensify during the phase of transition until a new government is formed, so that the people can defend their ideas and prevent them from being distorted.”
Too many cooks...
News.bg hopes the turnout for new elections will be higher than it was in the past:
“If voter turnout is higher, say around fifty percent, only five parties would likely clear the four percent hurdle rather than seven or eight. A more homogenous parliament could produce a more stable majority. However, if a larger number of parties enter parliament again, it significantly increases the prospect of another election spiral. A coalition of three, four or more parties cannot be sufficiently stable. It would be unlikely to last any longer than Rossen Shalyaskov's government.”