Bulgarian opposition both in and outside Parliament was not an unified alternative to the current Government, deputy floor leader of right-wing Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB) Ekaterina Mihailova told reporters on February 19 2008.

DSB is one of the parties that signed the non-confidence motion tabled in Parliament against the Government on grounds of corruption. The motion was signed by all MPs from the opposition and was advertised as the start of the unification of Bulgaria's right-wing parties.

On February 17, at a joint news conference, representatives of the Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (abbreviated as GERB in Bulgarian), the Union of Democratic Forces, DSB, Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation, Bulgarian People's Union, the Law, Order and Justice Party, New Bulgarian Democracy and ultra nationalist Ataka party said they were ready to rule if the Government fell after the vote of no-confidence on February 22.

Mihailova's words, however, meant that DSB had a different view on the party's future role in politics.  “We are supporting the non-confidence motion together with the other parties in opposition because we share the feeling that this Government should go. However the fact that we will be together at the protest rally does not make us unified in every sense. We have many differences and we don't see the opposition in its current form as an alternative to the Government,” she said.  

Despite the differences between the parties, Mihailova did call upon DSB supporters to join the protest rally against the Government on February 21 in Sofia.

This will be the fourth non-confidence vote against the coalition Government headed by Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader Sergei Stanishev. The ruling coalition comprises BSP, the National Movement for Stability and Progress and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. The first three non-confidence votes were tabled over the Government's inadequate response to natural disasters, and during healthcare workers' and teachers' strikes.

If the Government survives the vote, which appears almost certain, given its disciplined majority and 151 seats in the 240-seat Parliament, another no-confidence motion can be tabled after six months, at the earliest.