Bulgaria's new President Rumen Radev signed two decrees on Tuesday that were anticipated with huge interest by the whole Bulgarian society. He is to dissolve the National Assembly on January 27 and set the date of the early Parliamentary elections which are to be held on March 26 this year. President Radev appointed with the second decree Ognyan Gerdzhikov as Premier of the next caretaker cabinet. The two acts of President Radev were announced on Tuesday evening after long consultations in the Presidency building. Thus, President Rumen Radev kept his promise to dissolve the current Parliament and set the date of the early elections without any delay. The names of the caretaker Ministers have not been announced officially, but Bulgarian media already disclosed the names of those who are most likely to enter Radev's interim government.

Apparently, President Radev intends to prove that although his Presidential nomination was supported by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the caretaker cabinet will not consist of people from the leftist formations. Interim Premier Ognyan Gerdzhikov was an MP at the 39th and the 40th National Assembly as a member of NDSV party. He was Chairman of the National Assembly between 2001 and 2005. Gerdzhikov is a politician representing the liberal political space. He is also a renowned jurist and Professor of Law. In other words, President Radev prefers mainly experts in his caretaker cabinet. The Bulgarian citizens like that idea, because according to a public opinion survey of Alpha Research, nearly 75% of the respondents believe that the caretaker cabinet would be more successful, if it consists of experts.

The main task of each caretaker cabinet is to prepare the country for the early Parliamentary elections. We can judge by the members of the caretaker cabinet whether the country's head of state has any political affiliations, or not. Apparently, President Radev dissipated the doubts about possible affiliation to the socialist party. He is also trying to build the image of a President who is independent from the political parties and keeps a distance from them. Radi Naydenov is likely to become the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the caretaker cabinet. He served as Chief of Staff of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's cabinet. Later, he became Chief Secretary of the first Boyko Borissov cabinet. The ministers that are likely to join the caretaker government were neither part of the former State Security nor members of the Bulgarian Socialist Party. Thus, President Radev wants to prove that he is taking into consideration the stands of the EU and NATO which show reticence towards appointment of ministers who were members of the State Security in the past. Moreover, Rumen Radev is showing that he is not intending to change the course of the country's foreign policy in the direction of Moscow.

Ilko Semerdzhiev who was a Minister in Ivan Kostov's cabinet is most likely to head the Ministry of Health. Semerdzhiev is known as a fierce opponent to the policy of outgoing Health Minister Peter Moscov who is to lead the election campaign of the Reformist Bloc. Former Director of Plovdiv Police Plamen Uzunov was invited to head the Ministry of Interior. He left his previous position during the mandate of outgoing Interior Minister Rumiana Bachvarova and according to unconfirmed information he was in a very heavy conflict with Minister Bachvarova. President Radev set the date of the early Parliamentary elections for March 26. That date was proposed by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, whereas GERB party insisted that the early elections should be held in the beginning of April this year.

The two decrees of the Bulgarian head of state put an end to the speculations and the chicanery related to the date of the early elections and the next caretaker cabinet. However, new questions arose such as: whether the tension surrounding the changes at the Presidency and the Bulgarian government would influence the election campaign and the election process itself; will GERB continue to be the biggest political party in Bulgaria, or the 3% electoral support difference between that party and the BSP will melt in the months preceding the early elections; will some of the parties that are currently represented at the National Assembly fail to enter the new Parliament and will other new parties replace them after the elections. We are to learn the answers of those questions in April this year.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov