Bulgarian government survives no-confidence vote

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Bulgaria’s ruling coalition has survived a no-confidence vote called by the opposition, which accused the government of failing to deal with widespread corruption.

The 240-member parliament on Thursday rejected the motion in a 131-103 vote. Six lawmakers were absent.

It was the first vote on Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s centre-right government, which came to power in May.

The opposition accused the government of “having transformed corruption into a government policy.” It said that 88.5 per cent of polled participants in public procurement this year said that the bids had been not objectively assessed.

Bulgaria, the European Union’s poorest country, assumed the six-month, rotating presidency of the bloc two weeks ago for the first time since it joined the EU in 2007. But the country has repeatedly been subject to criticism by Brussels for failing to efficiently fight corruption or to prosecute and sentence corrupt officials.