Expert: President has the prerogatives to refuse appointing a caretaker government

The political crisis in the country continues

published on 8/20/24 12:33 PM

Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva (L) and president Rumen Radev.

Photo: BGNES

Bulgaria faces yet another conundrum in finding a way out of what has become a permanent political crisis after President Rumen Radev refused to approve one of the ministerial names proposed by caretaker prime minister candidate Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva. The minister in question was Kalin Stoyanov, head of the Interior Ministry.

According to President Radev, Stoyanov could not be trusted to ensure fair elections. This situation forced the cancellation of the swearing-in ceremony and the postponement of the date for the early parliamentary elections. There is no precedent for a president refusing to issue a decree appointing a caretaker cabinet, raising the question of whether the political crisis could turn into a constitutional one.

According to Associate Professor Natalia Kiselova, the crisis is purely political:

"In fact, we will be back to the previous situation, which was that the responsibility for the formation of the caretaker government was shared. This is what part of the former constitutional majority maintained, namely that the president (and not the caretaker prime minister candidate) has the final say," Kiselova stressed.

Former caretaker prime minister and long-time mayor of Sofia Stefan Sofianski also commented on the constitutionality of the case. He argues that after the recent constitutional amendments, it is not clear whether the president has the right to refuse to sign the decree appointing a caretaker government:

"If he doesn't like the next cabinet and the one after that - what do we do then? This instability and uncertainty affects the work of the Council of Ministers and its administration, because if you come to power with some priorities, you have to try to follow them and implement them. Bulgaria's main problem is that the economy is not doing well, so the main discussion that our society needs to have is how to proceed with the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan. We have had a Covid-19 crisis, we have had a political crisis, and all this has had a bad impact on the economy, on tourism.... So if there is no perspective to find solutions to these problems, we end up in a situation where we have countless changes of government with no clear horizon, which affects the daily life of every Bulgarian."

Political scientist Professor Rumyana Kolarova also commented on yesterday's events. According to her, the president's refusal to sign the decree is within his powers:

"The president has the power of veto, and this is essentially a veto of the proposal by Prime Minister-designate Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva. The use of a veto is only justified if the person using it has an alternative way out of the situation rather than obstructing it. We are clearly in a political crisis at the moment and a way out has to be found," Kolarova said, adding, "I am not sure that the president knows what outcome he wants. His public statements do not offer a solution, but rather express a desire for a parliamentary majority, which the National Assembly clearly does not have. It's more of a declared possibility, which is unlikely."

BNR asked Ekaterina Mihailova, a long-time MP and lecturer in constitutional law, how long it would be possible to postpone the early parliamentary elections:

"There is no time limit, but the country cannot be thrown into this chaos," Mihailova said firmly.

"I believe that reason and political responsibility should prevail. This applies to all institutional representatives. The decision now rests with the President and the Parliament, so I urge them to launch a new round of consultations in the near future.

Compiled by Ioan Kolev

Photos by BGNES, Ivan Ruslanov

Translated and posted by E. Radkova

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