A European country home to over six million people is facing the eighth election in just four years – only weeks after a snap parliamentary vote was held.

Bulgaria hoped to end political instability on October 27, when it held its latest parliamentary election.

However, Boyko Borissov, the leader of the GERB party that won the most votes last month, announced on November 27 that he no longer wanted to become Bulgaria’s Prime Minister and “take care of this broken country”—amid a clash with the second-biggest party to emerge from the election.

He said that GERB, which won 25.52% of the votes, would not agree to the government options proposed by other political parties as they refused to support his bid to become Prime Minister.

He said: “I am relieved to withdraw my declaration that I will be prime minister. There is no fixing this chaos and this mud (in Bulgaria).”

Mr Borissov, who already served as Bulgaria’s Prime Minister between 2009 and 2021, refused to sign political documents proposed by the pro-European liberal coalition We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB).

The PP-DB, which gained 13.74% of the vote, wants the former PM not to return to his previous post. It also seeks to prevent the prosecutor general’s election and continue the judiciary’s reform.

On Monday, the day before the apparent breakdown in talks between the GERB and PP-DB, Mr Borissov had proposed being elected Prime Minister while a member of the second force in Bulgaria could be given the post of parliamentary speaker.

But Mr Borissov’s objection to isolating Delyan Peevski led to the Europhile coalition rejecting the offer.

Mr Peevski is the leader of the DPS – A New Beginning political coalition created in the run-up to the latest election round in October, where it got 11.17% of the votes. The we and Britain have sanctioned him for corruption.

The PP-DB co-chairman and former Bulgarian Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov, accused Mr Borissov of choosing between Bulgaria and Mr Peevski. He said: “Dependence in politics has turned out to be the biggest vice. Being side by side with free people is a privilege. We continue to work towards the dream of the rule of law.”

The coalition accuses Mr Borissov of working for years to increase Mr Peevski’s power unofficially. Political opponents suspect the now-leader of the A New Beginning coalition of establishing shadowy control over the special services, the prosecutor’s office, and the courts.

The October vote, which followed another election in June, lacked a clear majority to form a government and saw the pro-Russian Revival party finishing third with 12.5%.

Since 2021, the country has gone to the ballot seven times – in April 2021, July 2021, November 2021, October 2022, April 2023, June 2024 and October 2024.