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| - Bulgaria's anti-establishment party There is Such a Nation (TSN) announced Monday it too had failed to build a stable coalition to run the country and called for a new election. The centre-right GERB party of Bulgaria's long-time premier Boyko Borisov, which came first in April 4 elections, had already admitted on Friday its efforts to form a government came to naught. TSN leader Slavi Trifonov, a 54-year-old showman and TV presenter, took to Facebook to say the party had not been able to persuade "the required number of deputies" to join a coalition. "The best choice" would be to stage a new vote, added Trifonov, whose party garnered a surprise 17.7 percent of the last vote. Former world chess champion Antoaneta Stefanova, who would have become prime minister in a TSN coalition, would inform President Roumen Radev, he added. GERB won just under 27 percent in the election and Borisov said he would not seek a new term as premier of the EU's poorest member. He named ex-foreign minister Daniel Mitov to set up a new administration but that ended up with Mitov accusing other parties of behaving "arrogantly and irresponsibly". President Radev is now expected to mandate a third and final party of his choice to try to break the deadlock. The Socialists, previously the main opposition and close to Radev, fell to third place with just 15 percent of the vote and their chance of forming a government looks slim. Anti-corruption protests shook Borisov's government last year, with demonstrators accusing the 61-year-old of favouritism, dependence on powerful oligarchs and weaponising prosecutors against political opponents. vs/anb/bg/bp/jz
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