Bulgaria’s prime minister resigns as planned, part of a power-sharing agreement

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgarian lawmakers have unanimously approved the resignation of Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, which he submitted as part of a power-sharing agreement between the two main political parties in the coalition government. The center-right GERB party which won last April’s general election and the runner-up, the reformist coalition led by “We Continue the Change”, agreed that each would hold the top job for nine months at a time. Now, Denkov of the reformist coalition is expected to be replaced by GERB’s Maria Gabriel, a former European Commissioner, who served as deputy head of government and foreign minister.