Bulgaria’s rotational government on Friday easily defeated a no-confidence motion brought in parliament over alleged failures in its energy policy, a tally of the vote showed.
The motion was rejected in a 143-71 vote in the 240-seat National Assembly, as seen in a live TV broadcast from parliament. It needed at least 121 votes to pass.
The no-confidence motion, supported by MPs from pro-Russian party Vazrazhdane, populist There Is Such a People (TISP), and the Bulgarian Socialist Party, was prompted by the government’s Just Transition territorial plans that foresee a gradual phase-out of coal production and coal-based electricity generation by 2038. The three opposition parties, which hold 70 seats among themselves, argued that the government’s energy policy is detrimental to Bulgaria’s energy independence and would jeopardise the country’s energy security.
This was the first no-confidence vote against the rotational government formed by the two biggest political groups in parliament, GERB-UDF and WCC-DB, under a power-sharing deal following a snap general election in April. GERB-UDF has 69 MPs, while WCC-DB has 63. The Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which has so far been supporting the cabinet in parliament, has 36.