Center-right party GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) is in favor of holding a referendum on compulsory voting alongside the early general elections.

Tsetska Tsacheva, Deputy Chair of the parliamentary group of GERB, announced in a Friday interview for Darik radio that the party had always backed the introduction of compulsory voting but they had been prevented from amending the Constitution to include this provision in 2013 due to the opposition of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), nationalist party Ataka and liberal party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS).

She reminded of the proposal of President Rosen Plevneliev for a referendum on election rules and the petition of the initiative committee for which GERB also managed to win supporters.

"Given the remaining last few days, not to say last few hours, of rule of the government of Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, which will be followed by the dissolution of the 42nd National Assembly, we have no time for legislative changes to the Election Code, not to mention the Constitution. We find that it is imperative for the Parliament to do its job and come up with a pronouncement on the petition which expires on June 10," Tsacheva stated.

She claimed that that Bulgaria could hold a 2-in-1 vote by uniting the early elections with a nationwide referendum.

Tsacheva noted that the voting had to take place in end-September or the first week of October at the latest so that the newly elected government could prepare the 2015 state budget.

She also said that she expected Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski to resign over the next few hours.

Tsacheva underscored that the GERB party would not take part in talks on a caretaker government and a date for the early elections unless the government resigned.

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