Bulgaria’s ethnic-Turk Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) said it will not back the proposal of the ruling Gerb party to call a Supreme National Assembly and make constitutional changes, putting an end to this controversial idea.

Earlier in August, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov proposed to stand down as demanded by hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians who have been protesting for nearly two months, if the parliament and President Rumen Radev agree to call a Supreme National Assembly and make constitutional changes. The following day, Gerb released a proposal for an amended constitution.

“According to us, the draft project for a new constitution is yet another hit against the democracy and statehood. The project for new constitution denies universal values: freedom, peace, humanism, equality, justice and tolerance,” the leader of DPS Mustafa Karadayi said in a statement.

The proposal for calling of a Supreme National Assembly needs approval by 160 MPs and the decision of the DPS means the ruling coalition would not gain enough support for its idea.

Meanwhile, members of Gerb have indicated that Borissov would be ready to resign if the party does not gain enough support for its idea by September 2 when the parliament will hold its first session after the summer break.

The move by the DPS, which has become a synonym of corruption in the past years along with its chairman of honour Ahmed Dogan and party member and controversial businessman Delyan Peevski, was seen as an excuse for Borissov, who has twice given signals that he wants to step down, to finally resign.

Borissov and the chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev, whose resignation the protesters also demand, were accused of being unofficially dependent on the DPS and serving the party’s interests.

Also on August 31, Borissov’s current right hand man — Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev — said that the delayed resignation of the government would only harm the support for Gerb.

“Today the smarter of the associates in power has taken from Boyko Metodiev Borissov his last alibi for staying in power,” the Poisonous Trio, which have become the unofficial organisers of the protests, commented.

The trio comprises PR expert Arman Babikyan, human rights lawyer Nikolai Hadzhigenov and sculptor Velislav Minekov. It claims it has no political goals but is leading the protest to oust the mafia from state institutions and restore democratic processes in Bulgaria, which has been the most corrupt EU member state for years.

They are calling on everyone to gather on September 2 in Sofia when the parliament holds its session, in one large protest that they hope will force the parliament and government to give up staying in power. Many believe that the September 2 protest might be the largest so far as most Bulgarians who have been on holidays will return.