Eurasia Press & News
A caretaker government has been appointed to run Bulgaria ahead of early general elections in May, the President announced.Marin Raykov will head Bulgaria’s caretaker government until the May 12 elections, the Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev announced on Tuesday.
“The prime minister should be a good diplomat. He must be sensible and competent and protect Bulgarian interests in Brussels,” the president said.
Raykov in turn vowed to implement a policy which would seek to increase incomes in the country without abrogating any of its international commitments. He will also serve as Foreign Minister.
In a first in the history of the country, a woman, Petya Purvanova, will head the interior ministry.
At the same time, analysts point out that the new government contains few well-known names, though Raykov himself was once a deputy foreign minister, serving from 1998 to 2001.
“This is a government of the unknown,” independent analyst Veselin Avraamov said. “The Bulgarian political elite is looking for less well-known figures who can absorb the popular anger directed at all politicians and appease the people.”
“[Raikov] is more or less politically neutral and has no links to different business groupings – these are the two most important conditions,” an analyst at the Sofia-based think-tank Centre For Liberal Studies told Reuters.
The interim government is taked with preparing for early elections scheduled for May 12, prompted by the sudden resignation of Borisov and his colleagues.
The caretaker government is to function under the motto, “For Europe, for democracy, for economic development,” Plevneliev declared.
On February 21, parliament approved the resignation of the government of Borisov and his Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria Party, GERB, following unprecedented street protests against high utility bills, monopolies, and widespread poverty.
