Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov’s government survived a third no-confidence vote on Friday, as parliament rejected an opposition motion over what it called the cabinet’s “failure in fiscal policy.”
Lawmakers voted 130-54 against the motion, with no abstentions.
The no-confidence motion was submitted by the nationalist Vazrazhdane party and backed by the minor parties MECh and Velichie. It was opposed by the ruling GERB-UDF coalition, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning, the Bulgarian Socialist Party – United Left, and There Is Such a People, along with four independent MPs. The liberal Continue the Change party and the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms did not participate in the vote.
The debate on the motion was held on Thursday.
This was the third no-confidence vote faced by the Zhelyazkov Cabinet. The first, initiated by Vazrazhdane, cited “failure in foreign policy,” while the second, submitted by MECh, accused the government of failing to tackle corruption.