Sofia, Dec 12 (LatestNewsX) – Bulgaria’s parliament unanimously accepted Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov’s cabinet resignation, the local press reported. A total of 227 lawmakers voted for the move in the 240‑member National Assembly. This decision followed Zhelyazkov’s announcement on Thursday after nationwide protests targeted the ruling coalition, especially Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski and GERB‑UDF leader Boiko Borissov, according to The Sofia Globe.
Neither Zhelyazkov nor other cabinet officials were present during the two‑hour debate that preceded the vote in the Assembly. President Rumen Radev will now invite parties to form a new government. If they fail, he will appoint a caretaker cabinet to manage the country until fresh elections are held. Since the anti‑corruption unrest against the Borissov administration in 2020, Bulgaria has held seven snap elections.
Zhelyazkov said he stepped down just before the sixth confidence vote since the cabinet took office in January. “We have no doubt that in the upcoming vote of no confidence, the government will receive support. But for us, the decisions of the National Assembly have meaning only when they express the will of the sovereign,” Politico quoted him as saying. He added, “Our desire is to rise to the level of what society expects. At this moment, as the constitution dictates, power derives from the voice of the people. We hear the voice of the citizens protesting against the government.” He also noted that “young and old, people from different ethnic groups have spoken out for the resignation. We support this civic energy and encourage it.”
The protests erupted in November over a budget that lifted taxes on the private sector while boosting state spending. Politico reported that the core grievance was general dissatisfaction with the government, turning the budget protest into a nationwide call for accountability, transparency, and new leadership.
Earlier in November, Zhelyazkov announced that the cabinet would withdraw the 2026 budget package following a demonstration outside Parliament. He made the decision after a meeting with representatives of the parliamentary groups backing his minority cabinet, as reported by The Sofia Globe. The government had presented the budget without consulting trade unions and employer associations, who opposed its revenue‑raising measures, notably the hike in social security contributions and the capital gains tax increase.
On November 26, thousands of Bulgarians joined a protest organized by the opposition coalition We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria in central Sofia against the 2026 budget. The demonstration was one of the largest in recent years, according to The Sofia Globe. Protest organizers cited the rise in social security contributions, the doubling of the dividend tax, and the introduction of special electronic accounting devices for businesses as the primary reasons for the backlash.
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