Bulgaria's PM Borissov says he will not lead new govt his party seeks to form

Borissov, 61, declined to name a possible candidate but said national unity was crucial at a time when Bulgaria is struggling to cope with a surge in COVID-19 infections and with the economic impact of lockdown restrictions. The five other political groupings in the new parliament have rejected Borissov's initial proposal for a broad, technocrat government.

Bulgaria's long-serving Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Wednesday he would not be a candidate to lead the next government after his center-right GERB party won most seats but fell well short of a majority in an April 4 election.

GERB, which has led Bulgaria for most of the past decade, lost a fifth of its seats amid public anger over rampant corruption that delivered a more fragmented parliament in the European Union member state. Borissov said GERB would hold talks with other parties to try to win enough support for a government once President Rumen Radev gives them the mandate to do so and would propose another candidate to lead it.

"I think it is not right to divide the nation ...So I will propose another prime minister, with a very clear European and NATO orientation," Borissov told reporters during a trip to the central city of Veliko Tarnovo. Borissov, 61, declined to name a possible candidate but said national unity was crucial at a time when Bulgaria is struggling to cope with a surge in COVID-19 infections and with the economic impact of lockdown restrictions.

The five other political groupings in the new parliament have rejected Borissov's initial proposal for a broad, technocrat government. If GERB fails to form a government, the new, anti-systemic party of TV host Slavi Trifonov will be given the mandate to try.

Bulgaria, the EU's poorest member state, may face another election if the parties do not manage to bury their differences and forge a coalition government.