„I am glad to see you again, the members of „We Continue the Change“ in the presidential institution on the eve of the holy for all of us Bulgarians holiday – the Day of the National Enlighteners. As you know, I have begun consultations on the formation of a government by handing over the first mandate in accordance with the Constitution. First of all, I would like to congratulate you on the result achieved. With their vote, the Bulgarians have shown and have given you a responsible role in the 48th National Assembly and an important place in the political agenda, but again the voters did not bet on only one political force and this is obviously a sign to all political parties in the 48th National Assembly that dialogue is needed, efforts are needed to find effective solutions, not just another election promises and stalling in another election. I fully agree with your thesis that there cannot be a government at any price, the offspring of backroom and unprincipled agreements, but at the same time I will insist on constructive and open effective dialogue. I will insist that we exhaust all possible options for forming a government. In this regard, I would also like to hear your assessment of the course of the dialogue, of the negotiations in the 48th National Assembly with the other political forces to form a government – would you support the first mandate and, accordingly, under what conditions. And without condemning it in advance, but around what ideas would you seek unity and ideas from whom, if we get to a second mandate, which naturally goes to you on the basis of the election results?„
With these words, President Rumen Radev addressed the representatives of „We Continue the Change“, who were invited for talks before the first mandate for forming a government. The Head of State continued:
„But in spite of this most important task before the 48th National Assembly, the composition of the government has a number of other responsible tasks – it has to take decisions that have been postponed by several parliaments, which the Bulgarian citizens expect. In this regard, I would like to hear how you see the priorities for the work of this National Assembly, because it is already overwhelmed with numerous draft laws, draft declarations, decisions, the budget is expected, the laws on the Sustainability and Recovery Plan, and also – very important, which I remind all political forces, but filling important constitutionally established bodies, which work some outside the mandate, others in incomplete composition and this can lead to the blockage of the state itself – another important task.
How do you perceive and what measures do you foresee to help the Bulgarian citizens out of the expected problematic period. Furthermore, your attitude towards the Sustainability and Recovery Plan, the budget and what measures should be taken to increase our own defence capacity, to increase .. our defence forces and to accelerate the modernisation of the Bulgarian army. Would you also support the programme for priority investment spending of the Ministry of Defence already submitted by the caretaker government.„
For his part, Kiril Petkov told Radev that they were guided entirely by two principles in their decision-making.
„The first principle is to be able to solve as many real problems of the Bulgarian citizens as possible and there we have stated 16 policies. These 16 policies are in 4 areas. The first one is to continue supporting Bulgarian families. What we see as of great importance at this moment is the raising of the minimum wage, because it is the families in Bulgaria who are most vulnerable to inflation, the continuation of the policy of helping the elderly with their pensions, tax breaks for young families to continue to be raised. We have a very serious programme for business and its competitiveness – raising VAT, the BGN 160 000 threshold, retaining the ability to support it in the coming winter with the price of electricity, so that it continues to be competitive in the European market, so that there is a guarantee that whatever happens on the world markets with the price of gas, there is a ceiling that cannot be passed. These are all part of our package, recognizing the need that the budget should also not come out with more than a 3% deficit, so preserving the fiscal stability of Bulgaria,„, he stated.
„Anything that is up to us to pass the laws to absorb the Recovery Plan money will meet with our support. We continue our fight against corruption and work for legal reform. We are pleased to see that the Venice Commission approves our plan to limit the rights of the Prosecutor General. Our second principle is that we keep our promises. The Bulgarian people should expect all politicians not to go back on their promises before the vote. That is why, for our first term, we express our willingness to talk to the mandate holder on all these policies, but not to support him. This is a promise we made to the Bulgarians who supported us,„, Petkov said.
„If the second mandate comes to us, everything will be done transparently to the Bulgarian citizens. We will not make unprincipled and backroom deals with any mandate. We expect the first mandate to be able to do what we did last time,„, he said.
