Bulgaria’s prime minister-designate Nikolay Gabrovski of the center-right GERB party proposed on Monday to form a government of technocrats to lead the Balkan country out of impasse, but faces an uphill battle to find support in parliament, where he lacks a majority. , reports Reuters.

GERB won a snap election on October 2, the fourth in 18 months, but has so far failed to secure majority support for the technocratic government led by Gabrovsky.

Failure to form a normal government would hamper Bulgaria’s plans to join the eurozone in 2024, bringing billions of euros into EU recovery funds.

It would also hamper his efforts to craft a proper budget for 2023 amid high inflation and a looming economic recession.

Political scientists say that the chances of a government led by GERB, even a technocratic one, remain slim. They see a possible deal only on a limited term government led by another party – or early new elections in the spring.

“My main goal will be to reduce tensions…but above all, that we act together and get Bulgaria out of the crisis it is in. I am confident that the proposed ministers are capable of doing this,” Gabrovsky told President Rumen Radev when he presented his cabinet proposal on Monday.

GERB nominated Gabrovsky, a 51-year-old neurosurgeon with no political experience, for prime minister in an attempt to gain political support. But four out of seven political parties in parliament said they would not support it.

The anti-corruption PP party and Democratic Bulgaria, as well as the Socialists, who accuse GERB of failing to tackle widespread corruption during its decade in power, said they would not support a GERB-led cabinet.

Radev said he would ask the parliament to vote on Gabrovsky’s proposed cabinet this week.

If GERB fails in the parliament, there may be two more attempts to form a government. If they also fail, the president must call early elections within a maximum of two months.