Moments ago votes were tallied in the Bulgarian Parliment where 123 lawmakers out of 239 in the parliament voted against the government. Prime Minister Petkov is no longer the Prime Minister.

This vote was precipitated when Slavi Trifonov, who founded the political party called “There is Such a People,” withdrew his four ministers from the ruling coalition, over disagreements on the budget and willingness to allow Northern Macedonia into the E.U., a hot topic in Bulgaria.

This resulted in the PM’s party losing the majority by 12 seats. However, the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the small anti-corruption Democratic Bulgaria party stuck with the PM. That was not enough to avoid the no-confidence vote ousting today.

PM Petkov had this to say: “”It was an honor for me to lead a government that was overthrown by Mr Peeski, Mr Borissov, Mr Trifonov and Mrs Mitrofanova. I make it clear that this vote is only a small step in a very long way. (…) We promise that we will continue to win back our country in this battle and one day we will have a country without a backstage, without a mafia, a normal European country, “said Prime Minister Kiril Petkov immediately after the results were announced. His words were met with applause from the plenary.”

President Radev must now begin procedures for appointing a new cabinet and Prime Minister, although the Bulgarian constitution sets no date for such appointments.