Yet another snap election in Bulgaria
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has appointed a caretaker government to lead the country until snap parliamentary elections are held in October. The move comes after the liberal-socialist coalition of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov was toppled by a vote of no confidence after only half a year in power. Bulgarian commentators see hard times ahead for the country.
Lacking a coalition culture
news.bg fears the country will become trapped in a new election spiral:
“What we lack is a coalition culture that can prevent another protracted political crisis. ... In view of this, new elections in January or February are entirely possible. It took two snap parliamentary elections [in July and November 2021] to find a way to bridge the political vacuum [and form a coalition]. Now it is quite conceivable that two more will be needed to build up a coalition culture that gives Bulgaria the chance of more permanent, stable governments.”
Too much power for the president
Bulgaria is basically a presidential republic at the moment, criticises Dnevnik:
“And what's more it's not even that, because in presidential republics there is usually a functioning parliament that controls the exercise of power. But we have no functioning parliament right now. We have a president and his appointees who, like little children, test the adults' limits to see what they can get away with. So it would be much more accurate to say that Bulgaria is currently under the sole rule of Rumen Radev.”