Kiril Petkov, Co-chairman of We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria, announced that his party will return the government-forming mandate unfulfilled. He explained that their attempt to maintain their agreement with GERB and prevent chaos was rejected, leaving them with no choice but to return the mandate empty.
Similarly, Atanas Atanasov, leader of Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria, stated that his party will also return the mandate empty due to the lack of support for forming a government.
A Gallup survey conducted for BNT revealed that a majority of Bulgarians believe that new elections will not improve the situation. Sixty-one percent of respondents anticipate no change, while 21% fear that early elections will exacerbate the political crisis. Only 15% hold out hope that elections will resolve the current impasse.