Kiril Petkov and Assen Vassilev, leaders of Bulgaria's new centrist party "We Continue the Change", react after the first exit polls during parliamentary and presidential elections, in Sofia, Bulgaria, 14 November 2021;
Credit: Reuters / Stoyan Nenov
SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's new centrist We Continue The Change (PP) party said it had sealed a broad coalition deal with socialist, populist and centre-right factions on Friday after eight months of political paralysis.
The agreement, which will put a regular government in place after two interim administrations this year, raises the prospects of a revival of anti-corruption reforms.
Former centre-right premier Boyko Borissov's decade-long rule ended in April after an election that showed popular anger over high-level graft in the European Union's poorest member state.
PP, which won Bulgaria's third parliamentary election this year on 14 November, teamed up with Borissov's political rivals - the leftist Socialists, populist ITN party and centre-right Democratic Bulgaria to agree on a ruling majority coalition.
PP leader Kiril Petkov, nominated as Bulgaria's next prime minister, is expected to present his nominations for ministers to President Rumen Radev on Saturday and face a vote in parliament as early as Monday, a party official said.
Mr Petkov, a 41-year-old entrepreneur, gained popularity for his drive to uncover wrongdoings in state institutions under Borissov during a four-month stint as interim economy minister in the summer. Boyko Borissov has denied any wrongdoing.
Under the deal, the coalition partners agreed to revamp the country's anti-corruption agency and carry out legal changes to make the country's chief prosecutor more accountable.
The new government will need to move rapidly to seek to shield the economy from the coronavirus pandemic and high energy prices, and also to try to boost the vaccination rate. Less than 30% of adults are fully inoculated in the country of seven million people.
