Bulgarian govt survives 2nd no-confidence vote

Sofia, Nov 23 Bulgaria's five-month-old government led by Nikolai Denkov survived a second no-confidence motion filed by the opposition in the parliament.

The motion was backed by 71 deputies, while 155 voted against it in the 240-member Parliament, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Revival party, the There Is Such People (ITN) party, and a coalition led by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) filed the no-trust motion on November 8, accusing the government of inability to guarantee the national security and defence of the country.

During the plenary debate, Kristian Vigenin, member of the parliamentary group "BSP for Bulgaria" and vice-president of the National Assembly, blamed the decisions of the Bulgarian government and the ruling majority in the field of security and defence of a possibility that serves "foreign economic and political interests" and is motivated by "personal political commitments to foreign countries".

In response, Denkov said that on the issue of national security, a national consensus should have been sought, which had to be centered on the modernisation of the Bulgarian armed forces and on the country's full inclusion into the "European and Euro-Atlantic structures".

"All other actions, including this no-confidence motion, undermine our national security in a complex and risky external environment," he added.

The first no-confidence motion against Denkov's government was demanded by the same parties on October 5 because of the cabinet's alleged failure in the energy sector, and was backed by 71 deputies, while 143 voted against it.

The Denkov cabinet took office on June 6 this year, enjoying the support of the GERB party, the We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) bloc and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF).

--IANS

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