Sergey Stanishev, leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, has declared that his party would “never” enter a broad coalition government with its main enemy, the center-right GERB.

“No! Did you hear me? No!” Stanishev told the Bulgarian National Radio upon asked whether BSP would consider entering a grand coalition with GERB.

He described GERB’s governing style as “authoritarian, incompetent and antisocial.”
“We are in different civilizations,” he argued, as cited by local media.

Stanishev clarified that Bulgaria does need a broad coalition government, but without GERB.
He ruled out the possibility of entering a new three-way coalition government, saying that it was “historically discredited.”

The three-way coalition government (2005-2009) consisted of BSP, the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms and the marginal liberal National Movement for Stability and Prosperity.

The BSP leader and PES president did not specify which parties the left-wingers would collaborate with after the May 12 elections. He added that BSP would not enter the country’s next government “at any price.”

Friday marks the official start of the general election campaign in Bulgaria.

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and his GERB party resigned on February 21 amidst huge protest rallies against poverty, stagnation, monopolies and political corruption.