Lawmakers have voted to approve current Deputy PM Rumyana Bachvarova as the country's next Interior Minister.

This comes after Veselin Vuchkov stepped down last week over his disagreement with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the rest of the cabinet on key reshuffles at his ministry.

Bachvarova will now be both Deputy PM on coalition policy and Interior Minister.

Speaking from the rostrum in Parliament, Borisov officially tabled the dismissal of Vuchkov, which is to be voted alongside the appointment of Bachvarova.

During the debate that followed, a number of MPs from various political forces exchanged bitter remarks, with the oppositional Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) doubting whether Bachvarova will really run the Interior Ministry and apparently hinting at PM Borisov's intention to lead from behind.

Socialist lawmaker Atanas Merdzhanov reminded that Bachvarova is "the closest person to Boyko Borisov" within GERB's leadership.

But Metodi Andreev, a lawmaker from Borisov's conservative GERB party, wished Bachvarova to become the Bulgarian "Iron Lady".

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