Sofia, Aug 20 (IANS): The GERB-UDF coalition, the second largest group in Bulgaria's new Parliament, refused President Rumen Radev's proposal to form a government on Friday.

The coalition's Prime Minister nominee Daniel Mitov has turned down the exploratory mandate offered by the President due to a lack of support from other parties, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Unfortunately, we do not see a possibility of fulfilling this mandate," said Mitov, whose coalition holds 63 seats in the 240-member Parliament.

Radev first entrusted the task of forming a new government to the largest There Is Such a People party, which has 65 seats, on July 30.

However, it abandoned the task after nearly two weeks of fruitless negotiations with potential partners in the parliament including Bulgarian Socialist Party, Democratic Bulgaria, and "Rise up BG! We are Coming".

According to the Bulgarian Constitution, there remains only one chance to form a government within the current parliament, which was elected on July 11.

The third and last exploratory mandate should be given to one of the small parliamentary groups.

With 112 seats in total among them, they are far from united.

Should no agreement on the formation of a government be reached, Radev must dissolve Parliament and schedule new elections.

In mid-July, snap elections were held after the GERB-UDF coalition, which had won the general election in April this year, failed to form a government.