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| - Bulgaria's long-time Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said Wednesday he would not seek a new mandate as premier and will put forward an ex-foreign minister as his party's PM designate. Borisov's centre-right GERB party came first in this month's general election, but the three-time premier admitted last week that he would not have the backing to ensure that a new government is approved by parliament. Nonetheless, he said he will propose a new cabinet even if it stands a slim chance of approval -- but without him at the helm. "I won't be a candidate for the post of prime minister," the 61-year-old, who has ruled the EU member state almost uninterruptedly for a decade, said in comments broadcast live on social media. "I will put forward another PM designate with a clear European and NATO orientation," he added. Later Wednesday Borisov said this will be Daniel Mitov, a 43-year-old who was foreign minister in his second cabinet from 2014 to 2017. Huge anti-corruption protests shook Borisov's third government last year, with demonstrators accusing it of favouritism, dependence on powerful oligarchs and weaponising prosecutors against political opponents. After winning less than 27 percent of the vote in the April 4 election, GERB has just 75 lawmakers in the badly fragmented 240-seat parliament and lacks partners to govern. If GERB's cabinet led by Mitov fails to secure parliamentary approval, President Rumen Radev will hand the mandate to form a government to the surprise second-placed anti-establishment party There is Such a Nation (TSN). TSN leader Slavi Trifonov, a showman and TV presenter, is in isolation after contracting the coronavirus and has not yet spoken about his plans. If TSN also fails to form a cabinet or win parliamentary approval, the mandate will go to a third and last party of Radev's choice. If that party also fails, fresh elections will be called. ds/jza/bp
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