Boiko Borisov, leader of the opposition party GERB, returned the mandate for forming a new Bulgarian government to Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev. 

On Friday Plevneliev will give the mandate to the second largest group in Parliament – the Bulgarian Socialist Party. Next on the list is the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS). 

According to procedure, after a government resignation, the President has to give mandate for the formation of a new government within the current parliament to all parties present in it, before disbanding the National Assembly, appointing a date for early elections and setting up a caretaker government.