SOFIA - Bulgarian opposition parties vowed to intensify nation wide strikes and protests today after the ruling Socialists defiantly unveiled a new government yesterday instead of bowing to pressure to call early elections, as they had apparently promised at the weekend.
Mr Nikolai Dobrev, nominated to be prime minister, will hand the names of his proposed cabinet to President Petar Stoyanov today. A confidence vote will be held in parliament tomorrow. Despite open divisions in the party over whether to cling to power or call elections, a Socialist assembly approved the draft cabinet by 150 votes to seven.