Deputy Ombudsman Maria Filipova announced that she is ready to take the post of caretaker prime minister if President Iliana Yotova decides. "I will accept if she (the president - ed. note) decides for me to be caretaker prime minister," Filipova told journalists after her meeting with the president.

The deputy ombudsman is one of the possible options for caretaker prime minister, provided for in the Constitution. The basic law stipulates that a caretaker prime minister is appointed from among the chairman of the National Assembly, the governor or deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, the chairman or deputy chairman of the Audit Office and the ombudsman or his deputy.

Asked why she had decided that she could handle the position, Maria Filipova replied: "For you and your viewers and for the journalists we don't know, my name is Maria Filipova and I have been a civil servant for 15 years and I work through various state institutions for the well-being of the people.”

The ombudsman has no place in the executive branch, ombudsman Velislava Delcheva said earlier today after her meeting with President Iliana Yotova.

"Representative functions and the entire activity of the ombudsman's office are managed by the ombudsman, I only support her technically," Maria Filipova replied to a question regarding what the ombudsman said. "That is the regulatory framework, whatever she delegates to me. She has delegated to me work that has nothing to do with representing the institution," Filipova added.

The president has not made her decision, hearings with the others are to follow, added Maria Filipova.