Bulgarian lawmakers rejected on Wednesday a proposal by embattled conservative Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to initiate the adoption of a new constitution. Borisov offered a rewriting of the country's fundamental law in mid-August in an attempt to end weeks of sometimes violent street protests. The rallies called for the resignation of Borisov's cabinet and of chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev, accusing them of being dependent on behind-the-scenes oligarchs. Experts however said that the proposal -- which offered to halve the number of lawmakers, but failed to curb the almost unlimited powers of the chief prosecutor -- did not offer any substantial tools to make those in power more transparent and accountable. It was also immediately rejected by protesters. The proposal had little chance of success as Borisov's conservative GERB party and his nationalist allies lack the two-thirds majority in parliament needed to push it through. Many analysts therefore saw it as an attempt to buy time and cling to office until general elections due in March 2021. During the parliamentary vote on Wednesday, only 110 lawmakers backed the call for elections to a Supreme National Assembly -- the only institution that has the power to draft and adopt a new constitution. Some 160 would have needed to approve it for the proposal to be adopted. Borisov did not attend the debate in parliament. The premier has limited his appearances before MPs and at government press conferences in recent weeks, despite travelling extensively around the country and broadcasting his trips live on social media. The protests that gathered tens of thousands of people for over 100 days over the summer have subsided recently, partly due to the spread of the coronavirus. Thirteen years after joining the EU, Bulgaria remains its poorest and most graft-ridden member, according to Transparency International's corruption perceptions index. ds/jsk/spm