Information about Politics Of Bulgaria

Bulgaria
This article is part of the series: Politics of Bulgaria
President Georgi Parvanov (BSP) Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev (BSP) Council of Ministers National Assembly Georgi Pirinski (BSP) Political parties Elections Provinces (oblasti) Municipalities (obshtina) Human rights Foreign relations European Union Meglena Kuneva (NDSV)
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Politics of Bulgaria takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Minister-Chairman is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. Since 1990 Bulgaria has an unstable party system, wherein nowadays the post-communist social democratic Bulgarian Socialist Party and the personalist liberal National Movement Simeon II are dominant. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The U.S. Freedom House rates the country with a 1 on political rights and with a 2 on civil rights (on a scale of 1 to 7 whereas 1 is the most free). Freedom House considers Bulgaria to be a free country.

Developments since 1990

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) won the first post-communist Assembly elections in 1990 with a small majority. The BSP government formed at that time was brought down by a general strike in late 1990 and replaced by a transitional coalition government. Meanwhile, Zhelyu Zhelev, a communist-era dissident, was elected President by the Assembly in 1990 and later won Bulgaria's first direct presidential elections, in 1992. Zhelev served until early 1997. The country's first fully democratic Assembly elections, in November 1991, ushered in another coalition government, which was led by the pro-reform Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) in partnership with the Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). This coalition collapsed in late 1992, however, and was succeeded by a technocratic team, put forward by the MRF, which governed at the sufferance of the BSP for 2 years. The BSP won pre-term elections in December 1994 and remained in office until February 1997, when a populace alienated by the BSP's failed, corrupt government demanded its resignation and called for new elections. A caretaker cabinet appointed by the President served until pre-term parliamentary elections in April 1997, which yielded a landslide victory for pro-reform forces led by the UDF in the United Democratic Forces coalition.

In 2001, former King Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha returned to power, this time as Prime Minister with his National Movement Simeon II. The last parliamentary elections took place on 25 June 2005.

On July 27, 2005 the Bulgarian Parliament chose Sergey Stanishev of the Bulgarian Socialist Party as the new Prime Minister in a coalition government with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. The vote was 120 against 119. However, the parliament voted against the cabinet's staff by 119 to 117 votes. Finally, on August 15, 2005, the BSP and National Movement Simeon II formed a stable government, along with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. This grand coalition comprises the three largest parties. This coalition will have a large majority in parliament with 169 of the 240 deputies.

Main office holders

Main office holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
President	Georgi Parvanov	BSP	22 January 2002
Vice President	Angel Marin	BSP	22 January 2002
Minister-Chairman	Sergey Stanishev	BSP	17 August 2005
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs	Ivaylo Kalfin	BSP	17 August 2005
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Education and Science	Daniel Valchev	NDSV	17 August 2005
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Disaster Management Policy	Emel Etem Toshkova	DPS	17 August 2005
Chairman of the National Assembly	Georgi Pirinski	BSP	11 July 2005
Vice Chairman of the National Assembly	Lyuben Kornezov	BSP	11 July 2005
Vice Chairman of the National Assembly	Kamelia Kasabova	NDSV	11 July 2005
Vice Chairman of the National Assembly	Yunal Lyutfi	DPS	11 July 2005
Chairman of the Constitutional Court	Rumen Yankov		8 November 2006

Executive branch

The president of Bulgaria (Georgi Parvanov since 22 January 2002) is directly elected for a 5-year term with the right to one re-election. The president serves as the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. The President's main duties are to schedule elections and referendums, represent Bulgaria abroad, conclude international treaties, and head the Consultative Council for National Security. The President may return legislation to the National Assembly for further debate--a kind of veto--but the legislation can be passed again by an absolute majority vote.

The Council of Ministers is the principal organ of the executive branch. It is usually formed by the majority party in Parliament, if one exists, or by the largest party in Parliament along with coalition partners. Chaired by the Prime Minister, it is responsible for carrying out state policy, managing the state budget, and maintaining law and order. The Council must resign if the National Assembly passes a vote of no confidence in the Council or the Prime Minister or rejects a vote of confidence. The current governmental coalition is made of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), National Movement Simeon II (NMS), and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (representing mainly the Turkish minority).

The Council of Ministers elected by the National Assembly. The ministers are:

• Sergey Stanishev - Prime Minister
• Ivaylo Kalfin - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Daniel Valchev - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Science
• Emel Etem Toshkova - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Disaster Management Policy
• Plamen Oresharski - Minister of Finance
• Rumen Petkov - Minister of Interior Affairs
• Veselin Bliznakov - Minister of Defence
• Miglena Tacheva - Minister of Justice
• Nikolay Vassilev - Minister of Public Administration and Administrative Reform
• Petar Dimitrov - Minister of Economy and Energy
• Petar Mutafchiev - Minister of Transport
• Asen Gagauzov - Minister of Regional Development and Public Works
• Dzhevdet Chakarov - Minister of Environment and Water
• Nihat Kabil - Minister of Agriculture and Forestry
• Emilia Maslarova - Minister of Labour and Social Policy
• Radoslav Gaydarski - Minister of Health
• Stefan Danailov - Minister of Culture
• Gergana Grancharova - Minister of European Affairs

In addition:

• Anelia Krushkova - State agency for Tourism
• Vesela Lecheva - State agency for Youth and Sport
• Plamen Vachkov - State agency for Information technology and Communications

Legislative branch

The Bulgarian unicameral parliament, the National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie, consists of 240 deputies who are elected for 4-year-terms by popular vote. The votes are for party or coalition lists of candidates for each of the twenty-eight administrative divisions. A party or coalition must garner a minimum of 4% of the vote in order to enter parliament. Parliament is responsible for enactment of laws, approval of the budget, scheduling of presidential elections, selection and dismissal of the prime minister and other ministers, declaration of war, deployment of troops outside of Bulgaria, and ratification of international treaties and agreements.

Political parties and elections

For other political parties see List of political parties in Bulgaria. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Bulgaria.

discuss – edit
'''Summary of the 22 and 29 October 29 2006 Bulgarian presidential Bulgarian presidential election, 2006>election results

Candidates		Nominated by	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
Nedelcho Beronov	Yuliana Nikolova	Initiative committee	271,078	9.753%
Lyuben Petrov	Neli Topalova	Initiative committee	13,854	0.498%
Georgi Parvanov	Angel Marin	Initiative committee	1,780,119	64.047%	2,050,488	75.948%
Grigor Velev	Yordan Mutafchiev	Union of Bulgarian Nationalists "Whole Bulgaria"	19,857	0.714%
Petar Beron	Stela Bankova	Initiative committee	21,812	0.785%
Volen Siderov	Pavel Shopov	Attack	597,175	21.486%	649,387	24.052%
Georgi Markov	Mariya Ivanova	Order, Lawfulness, Justice	75,478	2.716 %
runoff      failed to reach the runoff

discuss – edit
'''Summary of the 25 June 2005 National Assembly of Bulgaria Bulgarian parliamentary election, 2005>election results

Coalitions and parties	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Coalition for Bulgaria (Koalicija za Bălgarija) Bulgarian Socialist Party (Bălgarska Socialističeska Partija) Party of Bulgarian Social Democrats (Partija Bălgarski Socialdemokrati) Political Movement Social Democrats (Političesko Dviženie "Socialdemokrati") Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union Alexander Stambolijski (Bălgarski Zemedelski Naroden Săjuz "Aleksandăr Stambolijski") Civil Union "Roma" (Graždansko Obedinenie "Roma") Movement for Social Humanism (Dviženie za Socialen Humanizăm) Green Party of Bulgaria (Zelena Partija na Bălgarija) Communist Party of Bulgaria (Komunističeska Partija na Balgarija)	1,129,196	34.0	82	+34
National Movement Simeon II (Nacionalno Dviženie Simeon Vtori)	725,314	21.8	53	-67
Movement for Rights and Freedoms (Dviženie za Prava i Svobodi)	467,400	14.1	34	+13
National Union Attack (Nacionalno Obedinenie Ataka) National Movement for the Salvation of the Fatherland (Nacionalno Dviženie za Spasenie na Otečestvoto) Bulgarian National Patriotic Party (Bălgarska Nacionalna-Patriotična Partija) Union of Patriotic Forces and Militaries of the Reserve Defense (Săjuz na Patriotičnite Sili i Voinite ot Zapasa Zaštita)	296,848	8.9	21	+21
United Democratic Forces (Obedineni demokratični sili) Union of Democratic Forces (Săjuz na Demokratičnite Sili) Democratic Party (Demokratičeska Partija) Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union-United (Bălgarski Zemedelski Naroden Săjuz-Obedinen) George's Day Movement (Dviženie Gergiovden) Movement for an Equal Public Model (Dviženie za ravnopraven model DROM)	280,323	8.4	20	-31
Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (Demokrati za Silna Bălgarija)	234,788	7.1	17	+17
Bulgarian People's Union (Bălgarski Naroden Săjuz) Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union-People's Union (Bălgarski Zemedelski Naroden Săjuz-Naroden Săjuz) Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Bulgarian National Movement (Vătrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija-Bălgarsko Nacionalno Dviženie) Union of Free Democrats (Săjuz na svobodnite demokrati)	189,268	5.7	13	+13
Total (turnout 55.8%)	3,648,177	100.0	240
Invalid votes	99,616
Votes cast	3,747,793
Registered voters	6,720,941
Source: Centralna Izbiratelna Komisija, Bulgarian parliament and Adam Carr's Electoral Archive

More info: Bulgarian parliamentary election, 2005''

Judicial branch

The Bulgarian judicial system consists of regional, district and appeal courts, as well as a Supreme Court of Cassation. In addition, there is a Supreme Administrative Court and a system of military courts. The Presidents of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Supreme Administrative Court and the Prosecutor General are elected by a qualified majority of two-thirds from all the members of the Supreme Judicial Council and are appointed by the President of the Republic. The Supreme Judicial Council is in charge of the self-administration and organisation of the Judiciary.

The Constitutional Court of Bulgaria is in charge of reviewing the constitutionality of laws and statutes brought before it, as well as the compliance of these laws with international treaties that the Government has signed. The 12 members of the Constitutional Court serve a nine-year term. Parliament elects 1/3 of them.

Administrative divisions

The territory of the Republic of Bulgaria is divided into provinces and municipalities. In all Bulgaria has 28 provinces, each headed by a provincial governor appointed by the government. In addition, there are 263 municipalities.

International relations

ACCT, Australia Group, BSEC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, ITUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SECI, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UPU, WCO, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Other data

Political pressure groups and leaders:

• Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria or CITUB
• Confederation of Labour Podkrepa
• numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas

See also

• List of ministries of Bulgaria
• Bulgaria
• Foreign relations of Bulgaria
• Flag of Bulgaria

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