Bulgarian President Rumen Radev signed a decree on holding of early parliamentary elections on March 26, his press office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Radev dissolved through the same decree the National Assembly with effect from Friday, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the president appointed Ognyan Gerdjikov as caretaker prime minister, the statement added.

Gerdjikov, born on March 19, 1946, is a law professor. From 2001 to 2005, he was the Speaker of the country's Parliament.

The composition and structure of the caretaker government will be announced later this week, the president's press office told Xinhua.

Radev took these moves after the GERB party-led coalition government resigned in mid-November last year, and the parliamentary parties failed to form a new cabinet within the current National Assembly.

source: Xinhua