Sofia, 3 July 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Bulgaria's long stretch of political instability is set to continue after parliament voted down on Wednesday a proposed pro-Western government led by prime minister-designate Rosen Zhelyazkov.

President Rumen Radev had tasked Zhelyazkov, a former parliament speaker from the centre-right GERB party, with building a government following parliamentary elections on June 9. It was the sixth vote in three years.

But Zhelyazkov's proposed minority government fell well short of the minority needed to take power in Wednesday's vote in parliament.

Radev will now hand the mandate to form a government to the second-strongest party - the centrist Movement for Rights and Freedom.

Under the constitution, only three mandates can be awarded. If all three attempts fail, there will have to be another parliamentary election. It would be the seventh since April 2021.

A caretaker Cabinet is currently in charge of government affairs in the NATO and EU member state.

Photo: MIA archive