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.

To contact the reporter on this story: Slav Okov in Sofia at sokov@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Irina Vilcu at isavu@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey, Andrew Langley

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.