Democratic Bulgaria (DB) has called on Central Election Commission (CEC) members nominated by Progressive Bulgaria and Vazrazhdane to resign, after the commission ruled on complaints against the Council of Ministers' press office, the coalition's press centre said.

The CEC ruled on Wednesday, by 8 votes to 7, that prime minister Rumen Radev's remarks did not breach the Electoral Code administratively. Radev made them on 26 October, after the Sofia Economic Forum, and the government press office later circulated them.

The previous development: Election commission finds no breach of electoral code in Radev's remarks

On Monday, Yes, Bulgaria co-chair Bozhidar Bozhanov wrote on Facebook that the government had broken the code. He asked the commission to rule at once. Konstantin Valk filed a complaint with the CEC.

In all, 105 complaints concern Radev's call to back Iliana Yotova, which went out through the Council of Ministers' communication channels. DB says CEC members trampled on the Electoral Code and refused to rule on them.

"There is a new pact between Progressive Bulgaria and Vazrazhdane, and their members on the CEC must resign," Bozhanov said.

He called the CEC an independent body that is not a department of the Council of Ministers and not an extension of the executive. Its job is to keep elections fair, he said, not to protect the comfort and calm of an "executive that has forgotten itself".

DB MP Aleksandra Sterkova said that from the start the members nominated by Progressive Bulgaria and Vazrazhdane tried to avoid examining the complaint on its substance. She said they wanted to reply with a letter, which cannot be challenged further in court.

"We will not tolerate a refusal to carry out the duty to oversee the election rules," Sterkova said.

Sterkova said complaints have come in since the start of the campaign, including some about drawing children into Yotova's campaign. The CEC again sent them on by letter to another institution, she said.