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[And he won't be the last]
"Kostov, credited with having begun to prepare his
country for membership of the EU amd NATO, is to be
replaced as party leader...."
Bulgarian Premier Quits as Party Head After Ballot
Rout
SOFIA, Jun 26, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) Outgoing
Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov on Tuesday
stepped down as head of the Union of Democratic Forces
(UDF) after the coalition it headed was routed in June
17 parliamentary elections.
Kostov's party was the main force in the United
Democratic Forces coalition which has run Bulgaria for
four years, and is credited in the West with launching
painful reforms needed to prepare Bulgaria for western
integration.
The elections were won by the National Movement Simeon
II, set up only two months ago by the country's former
king Simeon II, returned from 55 years in exile. His
movement won exactly half the seats in parliament.
Kostov's party has not ruled out forming a coalition
with the ex-king. Analysts have said that the outgoing
prime minister's resignation could make such a deal
easier since Kostov was openly critical of Simeon
during the poll race.
The UDF was due to make a decision on the possible
move later Tuesday, according to party officials cited
by the BTA news agency.
Popular Sofia Mayor Stefan Sofiyanski, a leading
member of the UDF and at one point tipped to become
prime minister, has repeatedly said that the party
"must become part of the government."
The former king's movement and the UDF "share the same
values," he said.
Sofiyanski on Tuesday criticized Kostov for his
"misguided policy in the area of taxation and
revenues," in an attack which also slammed the former
party head's leadership style.
"Discipline in the UDF came down to not speaking your
mind.... I'm a free man and I want to be in a party of
free men," he added.
Kostov, credited with having begun to prepare his
country for membership of the EU and NATO, is to be
replaced as party leader by Ekaterina Mikhailova,
parliamentary leader of the party in the last
government. ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse)
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