Bulgaria’s ex-PM Boyko Borisov on Tuesday proposed talks for a non-partisan government after his conservative party won general elections but failed to secure a majority. The vote on Sunday was the fourth general election in Bulgaria in just 18 months and saw a record low turnout of just 39.4 percent. Borisov’s GERB party won 25 percent of the vote and is expected to have 67 lawmakers in the 240-seat parliament, where a total of seven parties won seats. The party is isolated, with no clear partners to form a governing majority. No cabinet would mean renewed instability in the EU’s poorest member state at the start of a winter overshadowed by the war in Ukraine, soaring inflation and rising energy costs. GERB’s rivals, the reformist We Continue the Change party of outgoing premier Kiril Petkov, came out second with 20 percent of the vote and won 53 seats. On Sunday, Petkov excluded any talks with GERB if led by Borisov. “I propose to all leaders to take a step back,” Borisov said on Tuesday in his first comments about the election results. He said he was ready to give way to non-partisan experts to lead talks with all parties on a set of clear priorities. “I neither want to be a minister, nor a lawmaker, or a prime minister,” the three-time former premier said, adding he was “ready to make any compromise and any concession in the name of the people”. “Some call it (a government of) national unity, others a government of experts… it’s not a coalition,” he said. “But let’s put on the table what we can achieve together and I think that this approach is reasonable,” Borisov told a press conference. Petkov’s coalition partners in the outgoing cabinet, the right-wing Democratic Bulgaria and the Socialists, also said they did not want to negotiate with Borisov. Borisov also ruled out forming a coalition with the Turkish minority MRF party and seeking a third partner from among two smaller parties, which also entered the legislature — the pro-Russian ultra-nationalist Vazrazhdane and the moderate pro-Russian Bulgarian Revival. Should Borisov fail, President Rumen Radev will give two more parties a mandate to try and piece together a cabinet. But analysts say that they stand no chance and the country will then head for yet another election.