Bulgaria’s GERB refuses mandate to form government, raising prospect of another snap election

In a brief, tightly scripted ceremony in Sofia on Monday, Bulgaria’s largest political party declined to even try to form a government, nudging the European Union’s newest eurozone member toward yet another snap election.

Outgoing Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, representing the center-right GERB–Union of Democratic Forces (GERB-UDF) alliance, accepted an exploratory mandate from President Rumen Radev and immediately handed it back, without presenting a proposed cabinet.

“We believe March 29 is a good date for holding the elections,” Zhelyazkov told Radev, suggesting a timeline for a vote that could be Bulgaria’s eighth parliamentary election in less than five years.

Radev, who has presided over a series of caretaker administrations since 2021, did not commit to a date. He said he would move to the next step in the constitutional process “in the coming days,” by offering a mandate to the second-largest group in parliament, the reformist We Continue the Change–Democratic Bulgaria (WCC-DB) bloc.

What happens next

Under Bulgaria’s constitution, the president must first invite the largest parliamentary group to attempt to form a government. If that fails, the second-largest group gets a chance. A third and final mandate can then be given to any party in the National Assembly. If all three efforts collapse, the president is required to dissolve parliament, appoint a caretaker government and call new elections.

Both the ruling conservatives and their main reformist rivals say there is no workable majority in the current legislature, elected in October 2024.

Leaders of WCC-DB have repeatedly signaled they will also refuse a mandate as soon as it is offered, arguing that the fragmented chamber and entrenched rivalries make a stable coalition impossible. They accuse GERB and their informal allies of preferring a fresh vote rather than sharing power or accepting far-reaching anti-corruption reforms.

Euro adoption amid political instability

The stalemate extends a cycle of instability that has seen Bulgaria hold seven parliamentary elections since April 2021. Short-lived coalitions and minority cabinets have alternated with caretaker governments appointed by Radev, a former air force commander who ran as an independent but is often at odds with GERB leader Boyko Borissov.

The latest impasse comes just 11 days after Bulgaria adopted the euro, joining the single currency on Jan. 1 as its 21st member. The lev was permanently fixed at 1.95583 to the euro, formalizing a long-standing currency peg. While European institutions hailed the move as a sign of convergence, it took place without a fully empowered government or an approved long-term budget for 2026.

Protests, budget backlash and resignation

Zhelyazkov’s cabinet resigned in December after weeks of mass protests against a draft 2026 budget and public anger over perceived corruption and elite impunity. The government had presented the first budget fully denominated in euros ahead of the currency changeover, proposing higher social security contributions, increased taxes on dividends and expanded public spending.

Tens of thousands of people, many of them young Bulgarians, rallied in Sofia and other cities in late November and early December, chanting slogans such as “Peevski and Borissov out of power” and “Young Bulgaria without the mafia.” Demonstrators singled out Borissov, the three-time former prime minister who still leads GERB, and Delyan Peevski, a powerful lawmaker from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) who is under U.S. Magnitsky sanctions for alleged corruption and state capture. Both men deny wrongdoing.

Although the government withdrew the budget, protests continued, evolving into a broader movement against what participants described as “mafia-style” governance. Zhelyazkov, whose coalition relied on support from DPS and smaller parties to survive six no-confidence votes in less than a year, announced his resignation on Dec. 11, saying he did not want to deepen “division in society.” Parliament accepted the resignation by 127 votes to none, and the cabinet has remained in office in a caretaker capacity.

On Monday, Radev praised Zhelyazkov’s decision to step down as an “act of wisdom and responsibility,” according to the presidency. But he also reminded the outgoing cabinet that the public expects it to continue to “govern responsibly, in accordance with all the requirements of the Bulgarian constitution until a new caretaker government takes office.”

A fragmented parliament and few paths to a majority

For GERB, refusing the mandate appears to be a calculated move. With 66 out of 240 seats, the party remains the largest force in the National Assembly but is far short of a majority. Even with backing from DPS and smaller groups such as the Bulgarian Socialist Party and There Is Such a People, any new GERB-led coalition would likely be fragile and highly unpopular after the protests that focused on Borissov and Peevski.

Party officials have argued that forcing through such a government would only prolong instability. Zhelyazkov told reporters that there was “insufficient support in parliament for a stable majority,” and that quick elections were preferable to months of failed negotiations and further polarizing rhetoric.

WCC-DB, which holds 36 seats, presents itself as the main anti-corruption alternative and helped mobilize the 2025 protests. The bloc previously entered a “rotating prime minister” arrangement with GERB in 2023, but that experiment collapsed amid mutual accusations of betrayal. Its leaders now insist they will not try to govern in a parliament they say is dominated by networks linked to Borissov and Peevski.

The rest of the chamber is deeply fragmented. The nationalist, Euroskeptic Revival party has 33 seats and has used fears of euro-related price rises and discontent with Western policy on Ukraine to build support. DPS controls 29 seats, while the Socialists and several smaller formations round out the assembly. Opinion polls released this month suggest GERB would likely remain the largest party in a fresh vote, but they also show high levels of undecided voters and no obvious path to a one-party or two-party majority.

Economic and governance stakes

The repeated failure to produce durable governments has boosted Radev’s influence. Since 2021, the president has appointed several caretaker cabinets that have overseen election campaigns and day-to-day governance. Critics in GERB and some Western capitals say this pattern has allowed Radev to shape policy, especially on Russia and defense, beyond the limited formal powers of his office. Supporters argue that caretaker governments have provided continuity when parties in parliament have been unable to compromise.

The political deadlock carries economic risks. Bulgaria remains the EU’s poorest member state in per capita terms and depends heavily on European Union cohesion and recovery funds for infrastructure and modernization. European officials have tied the release of some funding tranches to progress on judicial reforms, media freedom and anti-corruption efforts — areas where frequent elections and caretaker cabinets can slow decision-making.

At home, repeated trips to the polls have eroded trust in political institutions. Voter turnout has fluctuated but has generally trended downward over successive elections, as many Bulgarians express doubt that any combination of parties can dismantle entrenched patronage networks. At the same time, the 2025 protests signaled a new level of civic engagement among younger citizens, who organized via social media and framed their campaign as a generational struggle over the country’s future.

A return to the ballot box?

For now, the timeline hinges on Radev’s next moves. If WCC-DB follows through on its pledge to immediately return the second mandate, the president will face a choice: attempt a third-mandate experiment with a smaller party — a step that has rarely succeeded in the past — or move swiftly to dissolve parliament and schedule new elections, possibly on or around the March 29 date floated by Zhelyazkov.

Until then, Bulgaria enters its first weeks in the eurozone with a resigned government, an uncertain budget and the prospect that voters will soon be asked, once again, to reshuffle a political deck that has repeatedly failed to produce a winning hand.