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| - Bulgaria's political future appeared uncertain Wednesday, after Prime Minister Boyko Borisov admitted he didn't have enough parliamentary seats to form a government following the results of the weekend's elections. A surprise second-place showing by the new anti-establishment party There is Such a Nation (TSN) has upended the parliamentary arithmetic, making it unclear who can muster a ruling coalition. Borisov admitted that he will not have the backing to get a new government accepted by parliament, even though his GERB party won the biggest share of Sunday's vote. "We (...) have an obligation to our voters to propose a government," Borisov told a cabinet meeting Wednesday. But "it won't stand a chance" of approval in the parliament that emerged from the general election, he added. GERB, with 26.6 percent of the vote, seems set to have only 75 lawmakers in the 240-seat legislature -- and it has no clear partners among the other five parties who won seats. "Fellow politician Slavi Trifonov should come forward and assume his responsibility," Borisov added, referring to the leader of TSN, which took second place with 17.7 percent of the vote. The Socialists, previously the main opposition, were beaten into third place with just 15 percent of the vote. TSN, the main beneficiary of protest votes against Borisov's almost 10-year spell in office, has rejected the idea of forming coalitions with "the parties of the status quo". Following Borisov's statement Wednesday, Trifonov posted only a short comment on the social media. "There is a very clear procedure defined by the constitution and, quite logically, we abide by it," he wrote. Under Bulgaria's constitution, as the largest party GERB will be given the first opportunity to form a government by President Rumen Radev. If GERB fails, the mandate passes to TSN as the next largest party. Before the vote Trifonov had said that two smaller formations, Democratic Bulgaria and Stand up! Mafia out!, were "a lesser evil" that he might work with. Both parties joined anti-government protests last summer against Borisov. Democratic Bulgaria won 9.5 percent of the vote and Stand Up! Mafia out! won 4.7 percent. Preliminary calculations indicate that together with TSN they might have a total of 92 lawmakers -- more than GERB but also well below a parliamentary majority. Borisov said Wednesday that he might lend support to such a minority government. "If they don't form it, they'll show that they want to plunge the country into chaos, that they are not capable of governing," he said. vs/ds/jsk/jj
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