On je imenovan za premijera 1997, kad je koalicija pod vodstvom UDF-a pobijedila na prijevremeno sazvanim izborima održanim u aprilu te godine, izazvanim političkom krizom i uličnim protestima protiv vlade pod Bugarskom socijalističkom partijom (BSP).
He was appointed prime minister in 1997, after a UDF-led coalition won snap parliamentary elections in April that year, triggered by a political crisis and street protests against the Bulgarian Socialist Party's (BSP) government.