By Necva Tastan Sevinc
ISTANBUL (AA) - Bulgaria moved toward early parliamentary elections after the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF) on Friday returned the third and final mandate to form a government unfulfilled to President Rumen Radev.
Radev handed the mandate to the ARF parliamentary group earlier in the day, tasking it with nominating a prime minister, but the party returned it immediately, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported.
“Our parliamentary group authorized me to return the third exploratory mandate unfulfilled, so that through joint efforts we can move towards holding fair, transparent, free and democratic elections,” ARF Floor Leader Hayri Sadakov said.
Radev said the country was heading to new elections following the move. “We are going to the elections.”
Bulgaria has been without a regular government since Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov submitted his Cabinet’s resignation on Dec. 11, 2025.
The president launched the constitutional government-formation procedure in mid-December, holding consultations with parliamentary groups in the 51st National Assembly.
The first mandate, given to the GERB-UDF alliance, was returned immediately, while the second, handed to Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria, was returned unfulfilled earlier this week.
Under Bulgaria’s constitution, if all three attempts to form a government fail, the president must appoint a caretaker Cabinet and schedule early parliamentary elections within two months.
The caretaker prime minister can be chosen only from a limited list of senior officials, including the speaker of parliament, senior figures from the central bank or the national audit office, or the national ombudsman or a deputy.
The first and second mandates were returned earlier this week. The largest parliamentary group, GERB-UDF, returned the first mandate immediately after receiving it on Monday, and the second largest, Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, returned the mandate on Wednesday.
Radev said he had chosen to hand the third mandate to ARF as a symbol of national unity and opposition to attempts to incite ethnic divisions.
He said members and supporters of the party had been subjected to “brutal pressure” and continued to face various forms of influence that he described as unacceptable under the rule of law.