The left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, will join other opposition formations in consultations for a no-confidence vote against the cabinet.

The announcement was made Monday by the BSP leader and former Prime Minister, Sergey Stanishev, speaking in an interview for the largest private TV channel bTV.

He said that the Socialists will back the idea for no-confidence vote of the ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS, over the failure of the ruling, center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, to deal with the emergency situation created by large floods in southern Bulgaria.

Plans for a no-confidence vote have been on the table for a while now, all aiming at alleged shortcomings of Deputy PM and Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who is also in charge of emergency situations and disasters after GERB closed the Ministry which was to deal with them.

Stanishev pointed out that it was important to establish emergency and anti-crisis headquarters for prevention of similar incidents and reminded that the closed Ministry, which existed under his term, had started the building of a system for early notification.

He stressed the closure was a political mistake of GERB, but his party would support nevertheless all efforts of the cabinet for prevention.

On other subjects, the ex PM reported that BSP supporters wanted to know how the party will continue to reinstate trust among voters and win the next general elections. He pointed out that the Socialists survived the October local and presidential elections and scored a very good result despite "extreme pressure, scandals, controlled vote, mass threats, and vote buying on a very large scale."

Regarding the opinion of now former President, Georgi Parvanov, who just finished his second term in office and who is also a former BSP leader that there is a much needed change in the party, which had lost strength and that "the one who is responsible for the party having just 40 Members of the Parliament could be suspected in trying to become a secret partner of GERB," Stanishev declared he had enough confidence in what he had achieved as party leader, but anyone could run for the post. He explained he understood very well that "everyone who at one time or another played with GERB, such as the far-right, nationalist Ataka or now the conservative Order, Law and Justice party, RZS, ends up losing the trust of people."

The Socialist leader stated that Parvanov will always have strong influence in the party, but he did not accept the way the ex-President approaches some problems.

"When you come to politics in a new role and not as President there is no way you can continue to act as one," Stanishev told the hosts, adding that there aren't any serious problems in BSP and the last elections just showed it is the only alternative to GERB.

"Today I can give even more to my party and I believe we have very strong positions in the country and in Europe, including in the Party of the European Socialists, PES," said he.

The ex PM, who was recently appointed PES Chairman, promised that PES will vote against the ACTA agreement and reminded that it was under his initiative that the European Socialists declared it unacceptable.

"I support copyrights, but ACTA goes beyond the normal," Stanishev concluded.

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