SEEKING an end to a simmering political crisis, President Petar Stoyanov of Bulgaria appealed yesterday for the ruling former communists and the opposition to agree on holding early elections in May.
Elections are currently scheduled for December 1988, but the opposition, blaming the government for the dismal state of the economy, wants them next March. The ruling Socialist Party has said it is willing to bring the elections forward, but only to late this year.
The government resigned a month ago amid popular anger over the state of the economy. No new government has been formed yet, and in his speech the country's new conservative president appealed to the socialists to refrain from doing so even though it has the right to under the constitution.
The President appealed to the opposition to end its boycott of parliament so laws to help resurrect the economy can be passed. He gave the two sides until this morning to respond.
"We need help from international financial institutions and European countries. This help will not come unless Bulgaria has a stable government and reforms are carried out," he said.
Mr Stoyanov said the parliament must urgently agree a budget and a crisis management programme to limit hyper inflation, ensure the survival of the poorest members of society and carry out structural reform.
The parliament also has to pass a package of legislation paving the way for negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on the establishment of a currency board.
The setting up of such a board is a measure demanded by the IMF to allow the levy to be pegged to a convertable reserve currency, and see through drastic cuts in public spending.
If the Socialists agreed with his request not to form a new government, the other parties would follow suit and parliament would then dissolve itself, in keeping with the constitution.
The President would then be in a position to name an interim government of technocrats to negotiate with the IMF on the currency board.
Bulgaria is faced with payments to foreign creditors amounting to around $1 billion in 1997.