AS coalition negotiations reached a dead end for yet another week and a third mandate loomed on the horizon, another controversy broke out.
After the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) announced on the weekend of August 6 and 7 that they would not accept the invitation to form a Cabinet with the National Movement Simeon II (NMSII), the NMSII said that they would not accept the second mandate from President Georgi Purvanov.
"Socialist leader Sergei Stanishev made it clear on Saturday that the BSP refuses to  accept our proposal for a coalition in terms of the second mandate and suggested that a broad-based coalition be formed under the third mandate," NMSII floor leader Anelia Mingova said.
After meetings of the BSP executive bureau and the political council of the parliamentary Coalition for Bulgaria on August 6, Stanishev said that he would hold talks with the NMSII, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and the Bulgarian Popular Union (BPU). He said that this would lead to a successful third mandate.
Mingova said the political responsibility of the NMSII was to join these talks and to find a formula for a coalition.
"Therefore, while the potential partners are holding talks, we could not possibly take a stand and refuse to accept our mandate," she said.
On the following day, it emerged that the BSP, the MRF and the BPU had secretly prepared a draft coalition agreement and had distributed among themselves ministerial and deputy posts and regional governorships.
According to the agreement, the BSP, as the largest political party in Parliament, would be allowed to appoint the prime minister and 11 ministers, with one doubling as deputy prime minister, and with the party appointing a certain number of deputy ministers. The BSP would also have 17 regional governors.
The MRF would have four ministers, one of which would also be a deputy prime minister, a deputy minister in each ministry and seven regional governors.
The BPU would have two ministers, seven deputy ministers and four regional governors. 
A copy of the draft agreement was first shown on the morning show Koritarov Live on August 10 and was later posted on the Mediapool news website.
At a meeting with representatives of NMSII, Stefan Sofianski, Borislav Kitov and Krassimir Karakachanov of the BPU denied the validity of the agreement, with Sofiansksi saying it was a "flying sheet of paper".
Ivelin Nikolov, a member of the BSP executive bureau, offered evasive answers and said that the BSP had prepared several draft agreements with political forces in Parliament, some of which only had three parties in the coalition.
The development caused the NMSII to try to retract its statement refusing a second mandate.
"Everything is going according to plan and on time," said outgoing Prime Minister and NMSII leader Simeon Saxe-Coburg.
According to Saxe-Coburg, the NMSII would announce its final decision regarding the mandate soon.
BSP deputy leader Rumen Petkov urged the NMSII to announce its decision immediately.
"If the NMSII does not make up its mind immediately, it would fall into the disgraceful situation of procrastinating in order to provide one more day for the outgoing government, which, given the situation in the country, is unfair," Petkov said.
In light of the recent flood disasters, President Georgi Purvanov sharply criticised the parties in Parliament for their failure to reach a coalition agreement and form a Cabinet.
Purvanov said that preparations for a meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security were in progress.
"The Council, however, can meet only if there is a new Government whose ministers can assume more durable commitments," he said. "The delay in the cabinet-forming process is therefore unacceptable and irresponsible."
The President insisted that the Parliamentary groups finalise negotiations and form a Cabinet in the next few days that would prioritise assistance to disaster victims.
"The floods have given rise to a crisis situation in the country," he said.
"Considering the dramatic developments in more than 20 municipalities, I have even weightier reasons to believe that there is a crisis," Purvanov said.