President Rumen Radev handed the mandate for the formation of a government to Antoaneta Stefanova, nominated for prime minister by the second biggest parliamentary group in the 45^th National Assembly – ITN (There Is Such a People). She handed the mandate back immediately with the words that they refuse to take part in unprincipled coalitions.

“It is in times of crisis such as this that Bulgaria needs a regular and effective government. I understand your motives because a stable government cannot be formed on the basis of unprincipled coalitions,” President Radev said after taking back the folder with the returned mandate. “Our society has for years been expecting the National Assembly to make concrete decisions to shed light on the election process,” Rumen Radev said, and added that the outgoing government is still not submitting an update of the budget thus continuing to deprive Bulgarian pensioners of support.

President Radev now has to decide which of the remaining four political formations in parliament to hand the last mandate to for forming a cabinet. If the third attempt to form a government within the 45^th National Assembly fails, Rumen Radev will appoint a caretaker cabinet, dissolve the National Assembly and schedule new elections.