Ex-king keeps Bulgaria guessing

Most see Simeon as the only man to stabilise the Bulgarian government

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- The new Bulgarian parliament has met for the first time with no indication of whether former King Simeon II will become Prime Minister.

The ex-monarch did not run for a seat in parliament itself, but led his National Movement for Simeon II to victory in the June general elections. In interviews he remained vague about whether he would assume the post of prime minister, merely saying: "This is a very important day for Bulgaria," Reuters news agency said.

Most observers agree it is just a matter of time before the 64-year-old gives in to pressure from within his camp and accepts the most powerful post in the Balkan state, the agency reported.

Ahmed Dogan, leader of the ethnic Turk Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), told the parliamentary chamber that the MRF -- which has 21 seats in parliament -- was ready for a coalition with Simeon's movement who hold 120, one short of an outright majority in the 240-member assembly.

Nadezhda Mihailova, foreign minister in the outgoing government of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) opened the session with a speech that suggested the UDF would not accept a coalition offer made by Simeon's camp.

But Mihailova, head of the UDF parliamentary group of 51 deputies, said it would support any move to speed up Bulgaria's efforts to join the European Union (EU) and NATO.

In the past the UDF has suspected Simeon of wanting to restore the monarchy, a claim vehemently denied by the former monarch.

Mihailova said: "We will play the role of a guarantor that Bulgaria does not leave the road it has embarked upon. We expect that in four years Bulgaria will still be a parliamentary republic."

Simeon was exiled from Bulgaria in 1946 aged nine, after a rigged referendum abolished the monarchy. He spent most of his life as a businessman in Madrid before becoming the first ex-monarch to regain political power in post-communist eastern Europe.

His party won the votes with pledges to improve lives in 800 days and stamp out corruption. Only set up in April, the movement has intervened in a decade of alternating UDF governments and the Socialist Party of Ex-Communists.

Dogan described the victory as "a punishment vote against the whole political elite, against partisanship, confrontation, corruption, poverty and unemployment."

Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov said consultations on the new government would begin on Friday, Reuters said.

Plamen Panayotov, leader of the parliamentary group, said its priorities -- aside from the drive towards NATO and the E.U. -- included a balanced budget, lower tax burden and a move towards privatisation.

Also on the list were attracting considerable foreign investment, developing infrastructure, telecommunications, energy, tourism and agriculture as well as zero-tolerance of corruption and crime, Reuters said.

"Today we declare our desire to form a strong coalition government in order to make Bulgaria a better home for its people," Panayotov declared.