Bulgaria’s embattled Socialist-backed government has denied rampant speculations that it is considering resignation amid mass protests.

“The issue is not on our agenda at all. We have never discussed it," Defense Minister Anguel Naydenov told bTV on Sunday morning.

“We have strong support from people in the whole country. So there is no cause to be disturbed by the fact that several thousand protesters are demanding our resignation. We have no intention to resign now or in May. We have lots to offer in terms of social and other measures,” Naydenov pointed out.

The statement comes days after Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski made it clear he will not resign as long as the government has the support of Bulgaria’s parliament.

He denied hinting at quitting his post when the opposition boycotted the parliamentary sitting and it was cancelled.

“This is your own interpretation of my words,” he told reporters.

This is the second time that the embattled prime minister defies calls to resign.

Earlier in the month he warned that the renewed political crisis might jeopardise Bulgaria's negotiations for EU aid between 2014 and 2020 and cost the newcomer billions of euros in lost subsidies.

“Quitting now would also mean a deepening of the economic and social crisis,” he said.
The prospect of new early elections loomed large in Bulgaria on Wednesday after the Socialist Party also said it is bracing up for snap polls amid fears the opposition will continue to hamper the work of parliament.

The Socialists feared that the leader of the nationalists party Ataka Volen Siderov and his MPs will boycott the parliament on Thursday again and the plenary sitting will have to be cancelled, just like on Wednesday.

Members of the center-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, are also boycotting the parliamentary sittings, saying they will attend only if changes to the Election Code are on the agenda.

Meanwhile Bulgaria's former Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov stated that early general elections in September would be the best scenario for the country.

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