No Free Lunch

Novinite Insider » EDITORIAL | February 7, 2005, Monday // 00:00
No Free Lunch Emil Koshlukov (R), The New Time head, hands a signed agreement for cooperation with the ruling coalition to PM Saxe-Coburg. The mavericks traded their support, asking for ministerial chairs. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia News Agency)

By Milena Hristova

The government saw its 50/50 chance to stay in office tipped definitely in its favour on Monday, but at a price.

It is curious and indicative that a deal unleashed the political crisis last week and a deal again, struck between the ruling coalition and its defectors the New Timers, brought it to an end.

At first sight the deal leaves all three parties happy - the government of Simeon Saxe-Coburg is bound to survive the non-confidence vote this week, the New Timers will be more than pleased to call the shots, while the junior coalition partner, whose leader was pronounced last month by FT for the continent's most successful Muslim politician, does not mind these developments at all.

Die-hard right-wingers, who were the backbone of the non-confidence vote against the government, claim the New Timers demands for Cabinet reshuffle and ministerial chairs came as no surprise.


Hardly so.

The plan was subtle and it worked. Following the ousting of the parliamentary speaker, the defectors vowed to join the non-confidence vote against the government of former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg, and now, as suggested by the word maverick itself, traded their support, bent the former king into accepting their demands and joined his coalition as an equal partner.

Just days ago Saxe-Coburg denied to plan a Cabinet reshuffle upon the order of the New Timers. Now he appears to have changed his mind.

After the New Timers' punitive support for the dismissal of parliamentary speaker Ognyan Gerdzhikov, Saxe-Cobrug seems to have learnt his lesson. While Gerdzhikov emerges as a scapegoat for the government's woes.

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