Bulgaria's prime minister has pledged to lead a minority government after one of four parties in a governing coalition formed just six months ago quit the government.
Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said on June 8 that he was "optimistic" his Continue the Change party (PP) and its two remaining coalition partners could still deliver on pledges to uproot widespread corruption.
"A minority government will be much better than a government whose arms are being twisted for additional money and genuine reforms are being stopped," Petkov said.
Petkov spoke at a news conference after the populist There Is Such A People (ITN) party quit the government over disagreements on spending and whether Bulgaria should back North Macedonia's European Union accession.
Without ITN, the government has 109 of 240 votes in parliament, short of the 121 needed to pass legislation.
Petkov said the leftist Bulgarian Socialist Party and pro-reform Democratic Bulgaria had reconfirmed their support for his pro-Western government, and he believes there are members of the ITN who are against corruption and would potentially support his government.
But he also accused ITN officials of obstructing the reform of the country’s anti-corruption commission and sabotaging the election of Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov as its head.
According to Petkov, ITN insists on more money from the budget of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works for road construction companies said to be close to other firms that are being investigated for abuse.
The government on June 8 approved a revision of the 2022 budget bill after three ITN ministers walked out of a meeting, saying their proposals for changes to the current state budget had not been given fair consideration.
Slavi Trifonov (file photo)
“As of today, I am withdrawing our ministers and I am putting an end to this coalition and this agony,” ITN leader Slavi Trifonov said.
Trifonov, a talk-show host and folk-pop singer who established ITN in 2020, has accused Petkov of disregarding Bulgaria's national interests by making concessions to neighboring North Macedonia so it can start European Union accession talks.
Bulgaria vetoed the start of those talks at the end of 2020, saying North Macedonia was not implementing a bilateral treaty signed in 2017.
The Bulgarian parliament approved Petkov's government in December, giving Bulgaria its first regular cabinet since the decade-long rule of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov ended in April amid public anger over corruption.