Bulgaria’s ruling coalition loses majority after key parliamentary group quits

ATHENS

Bulgaria’s ruling coalition lost its parliamentary majority Tuesday after a key group left.

The Democracy, Rights and Freedoms (DRF) parliamentary group said it had decided to withdraw support for the ruling coalition government.

Announcing the decision, DRF lawmaker Valentin Tonchev accused the government of allowing corruption to consolidate and backstage dealings, particularly under the influence of Delyan Peevski, the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF)-New Beginning party, the state-run BTA news agency reported.

He added that there are plans to support a no-confidence motion and propose a committee to investigate Peevski’s role in judicial corruption and influence trading while continuing to back policies beneficial to Bulgaria.

Without the DRF's 19 lawmakers, the three parliamentary groups backing the coalition – the GERB party and the Union of Democratic Forces (GERB-UDF), the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) – United Left, and the There Is Such a People party -- have 102 seats combined, which is short of the 121 majority needed in the 240-member legislature.

Support for the MRF-New Beginning party, which has 29 lawmakers, became vital for the coalition government, the agency said.

The DRF and MRF-New Beginning are factions resulting from a rift in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party, when its honorary chairman, Ahmed Dogan, and Peevski, his one-time protégé, clashed over who should control the party and eventually founded MRF-New Beginning.

Responding to the DRF's decision, the coalition parties said in a joint statement on Facebook that "Bulgaria's entry into the eurozone, the stabilization of public finances, and the rescue of the funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan remain the clear priorities of the government.”

"Despite the decision of the DRF, the coalition partners remain steadfast in our determination to deliver on the priorities and commitments we have assumed to Bulgarian society. We are adamant that Bulgarian citizens will not agree to new early parliamentary elections and expect from the parties in the National Assembly predictability, sustainability and working together to solve problems, not to create new crises," they added.