SOFIA, Bulgaria — The Bulgarian government tried to defuse mounting public anger by giving up power, but the Parliament’s vote to accept the resignation of the prime minister and his cabinet on Thursday did little to calm discontent over rising prices and falling standards of living or to mend political divisions that have plagued Bulgaria since the fall of Communism more than 20 years ago.

The vote to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Boiko Borisov and his ministers was overwhelming — 209 to 5, with one abstention — but the path to fresh elections, now expected in April or May, remained fraught.

The ministers will stay on as caretakers until President Rosen Plevneliev appoints an interim government, perhaps as early as next week.

Large protests across Bulgaria have brought hundreds of thousands of people on to the streets in the past 10 days, and led to clashes with the police in Sofia on Tuesday. Mr. Borisov swiftly offered his resignation as politicians on all sides decried the violence.