After seven elections: coalition government for Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, the conservative Gerb party led by former prime minister Boyko Borisov has agreed on a governing coalition with the socialist BSP, the right-wing populist ITN and the party of the Turkish minority DPS. Gerb MP Rossen Zhelyazkov is to become prime minister. Will this put an end to the protracted political crisis that has led to seven successive elections?
Better than an eighth election
At last the country has a government, the Bulgarian service of Deutsche Welle comments with relief:
“The new coalition is far from ideal and not necessarily the best possible option in this parliament. But it's better than a continuation of the parliamentary crisis and new elections. In this respect, the public will heave a sigh of relief. ... Interesting times lie ahead. The governing parties will have a lot of explaining to do as to why and to what end they have come together.”
No trust in this government
Webcafé is pessimistic about the prospects of the coaliition government:
“The combination of Gerb, BSP, ITN and DPS does not inspire confidence in society. Even before the government was approved in parliament, social media were already full of talk of backroom deals, corruption and abuse. ... If there is any tolerance for Zhelyazkov and his cabinet, it will be more a case of the public being sick and tired of elections and the political incompetence of the parties, and wanting to break out of this vicious circle, at least for a while.”
A cabinet without competent ministers
The new cabinet is completely inept, Sega sighs:
“Most of them are spineless toadies who switch allegiance depending on which way the wind is blowing. Others have neither the experience nor the training for the job, but are party hacks whose only obvious qualification is blind loyalty. ... The entire professional career of the 33-year-old future foreign minister Georg Georgiev has been in politics. ... At the age of 23 he became a member of the European Parliament and then, without a single day of professional experience, deputy foreign minister.”