SOFIA, Bulgaria

Bulgaria's ruling coalition government failed to secure a confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday. 

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov's tripartite minority government failed to receive the vote of confidence in the parliament at the request of the opposition.

A total of 239 lawmakers from the 240-member parliament participated in the voting, with 123 votes against and 116 in favor.

On June 8, a no-confidence motion filed by the There Is Such A People party, which withdrew from the government coalition, was passed by the 240-member parliament on Thursday, with 125 votes in favor, 113 against, and one abstention.

On June 16, Nikola Minchev was dismissed as speaker in a no-confidence vote. 

Minchev faced heavy criticism and calls to resign from members of opposition parties after leading a parliament session where policies related to North Macedonia were discussed.

In late 2020, Bulgaria refused to approve the EU's negotiation framework for North Macedonia, saying it could not support the start of the bloc's long-delayed accession negotiations with Skopje because of disputes over history and language.

The opposition, which took a common stance against the government, unanimously sabotaged the opening of its plenary session on Wednesday morning.

According to the Bulgarian constitution, President Rumen Radev will give the task of forming the government to Petkov's party We Continue the Change, which has the largest group in the parliament. 

Bulgarians went to the polls for the parliamentary elections three times last year. Petkov's government took office on Dec. 13, 2021, with a vote of confidence.