Bulgarian Opposition Launches No-Confidence Vote Over Garbage

(Bloomberg) -- Bulgaria’s opposition Socialists filed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s government, accusing it of failing to manage imports of garbage and a water scandal that ousted the environment minister this month.

Borissov, a three-time premier who is half way through his third term, lacks an outright parliamentary majority. But he’s expected to survive the challenge with the support of a small populist party and independent lawmakers who’ve helped him defeat four no-confidence motions since 2017.

The complaints against his government center around a water-supply shortage in the city of Pernik, near the capital Sofia, where water was diverted to industrial activities despite a shortage. The Socialists say the government has also failed to control recycling and the burning of imported trash after media reported sites with hundreds of thousands of tons of unregulated garbage.

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