The two largest formations in Bulgaria’s new parliament – Gerb and Change Continues-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) – have announced they will start talks on a possible coalition. 

The decision comes after the two formations rejected each other’s conditions for weeks after the October general election. With the prospect of yet another general election and further political instability looming, the two parties are now exploring a possible cooperation. However, their differences and red lines remain unchanged, which makes the outcome of the negotiations highly uncertain.

Gerb and CC-DB ruled together in the previous parliament, agreeing on a rotational government, in which CC’s Nikolai Denkov was prime minister for nine months and was then supposed to be replaced by Gerb’s Mariya Gabriel. However, Gerb has pulled out of the agreement when it was Gabriel’s turn to take on the post, pushing the country into its seventh general election since April 2021.

On November 23, Gerb, which had been refusing a meeting with CC-DB, sent an official invitation to the formation, which was accepted.

Gerb said in its invitation that the top priority should be the exit from the current political crisis through the formation of a majority that would elect a parliament speaker, prime minister and government.

“All other topics that you raise follow this choice and of course will be discussed in detail and we do not give up conversations on each of them,” Gerb said in the letter that was published on its Facebook page.

DB’s Ivaylo Mirchev wrote on Facebook that CC-DB has received the invitation and will meet Gerb but that the primary issue that must be discussed is the termination of Magnitsky-sanctioned Delyan Peevski’s influence in the judiciary and his isolation in parliament. Peevski is the leader of one of the two factions formed by the split of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), DPS – New Beginning.

The second key condition set by CC-DB is the suspension of acting chief prosecutor Borislav Sarafov from the post and the third is the implementation of CC-DB’s anti-corruption reform package. The coalition also wants to limit the possibility for people sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act to have access to any public resources.

CC-DB also insists that the meeting should be public, otherwise it will not participate.