Bulgarian lawmakers have accepted the resignation of the government led by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

218 deputies voted "for", no one voted "against". There were two abstentions.

On Sunday, Borisov announced he would step down over the results of the presidential election. He deposited the resignation a day later.

"Two years ago, the state was in a terrible condition. Either we had to do election after election or [make a coalition government]," Borisov said before the vote in Parliament.

The outgoing Prime Minister made it clear he had believed the government wouldn't even last that long.

He thanked government partners for withstanding for more than two years considering differences among and within parties involved in or backing the government and external pressure factors such as the migrant crisis.

But "the vote on Sunday showed people want a change, something new, whatever people voted for."

Borisov argued the political situation had changed, with a "new party" having defeated his, and that made a snap election necessary.

He denied being offended by the outcome of the presidential election said he was stepping down to heed "the people's will", even though some of his political opponents had accused him of being a "dictator" and "a sultan." In Borisov's words, voters had preferred the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP)'s way of proposing a president than that of his GERB party.

Borisov congratulated Rumen Radev on winning the presidential election, dubbing the vote entirely "fair".

"Looking at the meeting between [incumbent Rosen] Plevneliev and Radev, seeing their smiles, I felt calm," he said, elaborating their conversation gave him the sense of continuity. 

In a U-turn, he also praised the three-question referendum initiated by a popular TV show and recommended that the voting system be changed.

The nationalist Patriotic Front (PF) coalition, which backs the minority cabinet but has no ministers in it, condemned the resignation and called on lawmakers to vote against and secure a year more in office to help Bulgaria withstand global challenges.