Minister's Tit for Cabinet's Tat

Novinite Insider » EDITORIAL | February 2, 2005, Wednesday // 00:00
Minister's Tit for Cabinet's Tat After four years of relatively off-media stay in two ministerial chairs, Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Lidia Shuleva may cause the government's ousting if the non-confidence vote of opposition parties succeeds. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (SNA)

By Ivelina Puhaleva

Five months ahead of regular parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg faces the sixth in turn non-confidence vote against his cabinet under the pressure of minor coalition partner to sack one of its most successful ministers.

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms finally made it clear on Wednesday it blames Economy Minister Lidia Shuleva for the failure with the Bulgaratabac sale. It came as a retort to Shuleva's direct statement in Parliament the previous day that the MRF's withdrawal of political support for the deal expelled British American Tobacco (BAT) from Bulgaria.

A day later six opposition parties declared readiness to back up a non-confidence vote on Friday and ask for the resignation of Parliamentary Speaker Ognyan Gerdzhikov.

This evidently poses great challenge to the prime minister who has lost the ruling majority in parliament and currently has 98 out of 240 MPs in its parliamentary group. Thirteen splinter lawmakers from the freshly set-up Novoto Vreme faction initially vowed to join the non-confidence vote, but until Friday's ballot they would for sure try out to gamble any chances of give-and-takes from their former party leader Simeon Saxe-Coburg.

The Novoto Vreme has for long fought to win the significance of a balancing factor in Parliament and back-up for the government competing with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.

It is possible that they press Simeon Saxe-Coburg to reshuffle the Cabinet to make them quit the non-confidence vote and may be even ask for some ministerial chairs. In any case, the Novoto Vreme, as well as the rest of parties in Bulgaria, except from the socialists, are not ready for elections and would not be so persistent in ousting the government.

It is also quite unlikely that Simeon Saxe-Coburg would bid farewell to one of his most successful ministers, as Lidia Shuleva, who is also deputy prime minister, is considered to be one of few persons in the premier's surroundings to favor his high appreciation and trust. in four years of mandate she successively headed two of the "hottest" ministries, as she first decisively fight unemployment and then worked hard for a record leap in foreign investments to Bulgaria. It was her team from the Economy Ministry to wrap up the landmark state telecom privatisation deal last year.

What the Movement for Rights and Freedoms has obviously disliked working with Minister Shuleva is her predominantly business-like approach to her fields of governance. Ahmed Dogan, on the contrary, is a subtle politician experienced in a decade-long parliamentary and ruling life.

However the outcome of the new attack against the Cabinet seems to hinge on the votes of seven independent MPs, some of which had not declared a stance yet.

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