Bulgaria's anti-elite ITN party mandated to form government

Bulgaria's new anti-establishment party, There Is Such a People (ITN), received a mandate on Friday to build a minority, technocrat government, after narrowly winning a July 11 general election, the Balkan country's second this year. ITN will have a week to garner support for a new cabinet in the fractured parliament in the European Union's poorest member state, but it faces an uphill battle after it refused to debate ministerial posts with smaller, anti-corruption parties.

Bulgaria's new anti-establishment party, There Is Such a People (ITN), received a mandate on Friday to build a minority, technocrat government, after narrowly winning a July 11 general election, the Balkan country's second this year.

ITN will have a week to garner support for a new cabinet in the fractured parliament in the European Union's poorest member state, but it faces an uphill battle after it refused to debate ministerial posts with smaller, anti-corruption parties. "People voted for you with the expectation that you will consolidate the front of change against a failed corrupt model of power. It is time for them to know how and with whom," President Rumen Radev said upon handing the mandate to ITN.

Failure to win support may prompt yet another ballot in the coming months, which could hamper Bulgaria's ability to tap coronavirus recovery aid from the European Union or deal efficiently with any upsurge of COVID cases expected after the summer. ITN and its potential allies, Democratic Bulgaria and Stand Up! Mafia Out!, whose support has risen amid popular anger against entrenched corruption, have largely agreed on steps to overhaul the judiciary and ensure rule of law.

But talks stalled this week after the two smaller parties demanded clear commitments and guarantees that the ministers in the new government will stick to agreed priorities. ITN has said it wanted the backing of the two parties, but plans to propose its own government and would not seek to sign a coalition or a political agreement with them.

ITN's candidate for prime minister, Plamen Nikolov, 44 year- old entrepreneur, will need the support of other, traditional political groups to secure majority support in parliament. ITN has ruled out any talks with the centre-right GERB party of former prime minister Boyko Borissov. Many voters blame Borissov for allowing corruption to fester during his decade-long rule.

Under the constitution, if ITN fails to put a proposed government before parliament for approval within seven days it will have to return the mandate to President Radev.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)