Bulgaria's Socialists received a mandate to form a government on Monday, but it was still unclear if they would end a political deadlock and seal a ruling deal with ex-king Simeon Saxe-Coburg's outgoing centrists. The move came a day after the Socialists, who won June 25 elections without a clear majority, said they had mostly wrapped up talks with the former monarch's party to create a grand coalition and lead Bulgaria into the European Union.
Socialist leader Sergei Stanishev, the 39-year-old historian named by his party to be prime minister on Sunday, will have a week to form a cabinet and survive a parliament confidence vote.
"I sign a decree with which I grant him a mandate to form a government, a mandate which should be fulfilled in one week," President Georgi Parvanov said at a ceremony.
But a concrete deal was still pending on Monday and the Socialists urged the centrists to make clear whether they wanted to join them in power or not.