Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov. Photo by BGNES
Bulgaria's Parliament expectedly decided that the planned no-confidence vote against the ruling centrist-right GERB will not take place.
On Monday, key GERB MP Iskra Fidosova proposed the no-confidence vote to be dropped from the Parliament's agenda. A total of 130 lawmakers voted in favor of her proposal, while 35 voted against and one abstained from voting.
The no-confidence motion was submitted by far-right Ataka and left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) on April 6 over what the two parties perceive as GERB's failed energy policy. At the end of March, the GERB government decided to scrap the Belene Nuclear Power Plant, a project backed by the two aforementioned parties.
Last week, Ataka's parliamentary group decided to withdraw its support from the no-confidence vote, leaving only 39 lawmakers from left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party and one "independent" MP behind it.
Prime Minister Boyko Borisov witnessed Monday's discussion in the Parliament on whether there are legal grounds for a no-confidence vote to be held. He addressed the lawmakers, stating that it is BSP that should be scared by debates on Belene.
"You did not want to build Belene," he told BSP's MPs.