Bulgaria’s Gerb party will propose a minority government after failing to find a third partner for a ruling coalition, the party’s leader Boyko Borissov said on June 24.

Borissov made the announcement amid intense speculation about the reasons for the stepped-up security presence outside his home, including special forces snipers that were spotted patrolling outside. Fellow politicians have suggested that Borissov could be a target for unspecified forces trying to prevent the formation of a new government. 

It is currently unclear whether Borissov will be given the go-ahead to form a government. During consultations with President Rumen Radev, Borissov said his party, the largest in the current parliament, cannot secure a ruling majority but will hope that “all responsible people” will support its proposal for a cabinet.

The second largest party, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), will support Gerb’s nomination for a government, but the two parties have only 115 out of 240 MPs and need the support of at least six more MPs.

Gerb and DPS have tried to persuade the reformist pro-Western Change Continues-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) and the populist There Are Such People (ITN) to join a ruling coalition. 

However, CC-DB, which partnered with Gerb in the previous parliament, has repeatedly refused to participate in coalition with Borissov’s party and the DPS.

ITN has been giving mixed signals. It backed Gerb’s nomination for parliament speaker but does not want to participate in a coalition with the two larger parties for the moment.

The pro-Russian newcomer in parliament, the Greatness party, has refused to participate as well. It claimed that representatives of Gerb and the DPS have been pressuring its MPs, luring them with significant sums and lucrative posts and at the same time threatening their lives and businesses.

During a meeting with Radev, the DPS insisted that a government should be formed within this parliament. The DPS urged Radev to intervene and persuade political parties to back a government with the first mandate.

The current negotiations come after the sixth general election in just over three years as votes have repeatedly produced fragmented parliaments and short-lived governments. 

In a related development, Atanas Atanassov, co-leader of CC-DB, suggested that someone is attempting to interfere in the process of government formation, by threatening Borissov.

“At the moment a procedure for government formation is underway. The mandate holder is Gerb. At the same time, photos of snipers who have perched on the fence of Mr. Borissov in [his home located in] Bankya appear in the public space. Isn’t that disturbing,” Atanassov told reporters on June 24.

The investigative news outlet Bird.bg has published photos of special forces with snipers protecting Borissov’s house.

Atanassov suggested that the threat comes from abroad and said that “here, in the Balkans, things like that happen”. 

During consultations with Radev, CC-DB’s ex-prime minister Nikolai Denkov said that Borissov owes the Bulgarian people a regular government, after bringing down two previous regular CC-DB governments.