November 17 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian parliament speaker Dimitar Glavchev resigned on Friday, the parliament's press office announced.
On Thursday, main opposition Socialists, who were seeking the ouster of Glavchev, started a boycott of parliament sittings, saying they will only return if he stepped down.
The resignation is a moral act which aims to restore normal atmosphere in parliament and avoid casting a shadow on the forthcoming Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU, the press office quoted Glavchev as saying in a statement.
Following the resignation of Glavchev, a nomination of governing GERB party, the parliament elected his deputy Tsveta Karayancheva from GERB as new parliament speaker in a 138/3 vote with 71 abstentions.
Bulgaria will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of next year.