January 20 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) said on Monday that it has filed a no-confidence motion against the governing coalition comprising the conservative GERB party and nationalist alliance United Patriots over its environmental policy.
"Half a million Bulgarians currently live with water restrictions, and there is a serious risk that this number will increase," BSP leader Korneliya Ninova said in a statement.
The air quality in Bulgaria is also among the poorest in Europe, and the country has become a landfill for waste imported not only from Europe but from Third World countries, as well, Ninova added.
This is the fourth no-confidence vote which the current government, which took office in May 2017, will face.
Last week, Bulgaria appointed Emil Dimitrov as minister of environment and water and accepted the resignation of his predecessor Neno Dimov.
Dimov resigned after he was detained in police custody in relation to investigations into the reasons for a severe shortage of drinking water in the town of Pernik and suspected unlawful imports of waste into the country and its storage.
Pernik, located some 30 km south of Sofia, is gripped by a severe water crisis due to dry weather in 2019 and the outdated water supply infrastructure in the region. The poor condition of the water supply network in Pernik municipality, which has not been rehabilitated for more than 50 years, leads to water losses of 76% on the territory of the municipality.