Politics of Bulgaria
Parts of this article (those related to the effects of the 2 October 2022 election) need to be updated.(December 2022) |
The politics of Bulgaria take place in a framework of a
After forty-five years of
Bulgaria has generally good
Developments since 1990
Parliamentary
After the fall of the communism in 1989, the
In contemporary Bulgaria, the government and its leader - the Prime Minister, have more political influence and significance than the President. Thus, the parliamentary elections set the short-term social and political environment in the country since the cabinet (chosen by the Prime Minister and approved by the parliament) decides how the country is governed while the President can only make suggestions and impose vetoes.
In the first parliamentary elections held under the new
BSP won convincingly these elections in
The
In
In the aftermath, the BSP won the parliamentary elections in
In the parliamentary elections of
In the early
Only two weeks after its initial formation the Oresharski government came under criticism and had to deal with
As agreed,
In May 2017,
The
In the July 2021 snap
In April 2023, because of the political deadlock, Bulgaria held its fifth parliamentary election since April 2021. GERB was the biggest, winning 69 seats. The bloc led by We Continue the Change won 64 seats in the 240-seat parliament. In June 2023, Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov formed a new coalition between We Continue The Change and GERB. According to the coalition agreement, Denkov will lead the government for the first nine months. He will be succeeded by former European Commissioner, Mariya Gabriel, of the GERB party. She will take over as Prime Minister after nine months.[37]
Presidential
In 1992,
Executive branch
The president of Bulgaria 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.
Legislative branch
The Bulgarian
Elections
Parliamentary elections
According to parallel counts of sample polling stations by several polling agencies, the final result was a close race between GERB—SDS and PP–DB, with all projecting GERB—SDS to be narrowly in the lead. All also suggest that V, DPS, and BSPzB would make it into the parliament, and there was conflicting data on whether ITN would win seats as well.[47][48]
The following table outlines the results by party. The national threshold at 4% is calculated using total votes for parties and independent candidates only, and not the total of valid votes, which include "None of the above" votes. As such, ITN wins seats despite seemingly falling below 4%.
There Is Such a People 103,971 | 3.94 | 11 | +11 | | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bulgarian Rise | 77,420 | 2.93 | 0 | –12 | |||||
The Left! | 56,481 | 2.14 | 0 | New | |||||
Neutral Bulgaria | 10,505 | 0.40 | 0 | New | |||||
Together | 8,755 | 0.33 | 0 | New | |||||
People's Party "Truth and Only the Truth" | 7,776 | 0.29 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Conservative Union of the Right | 7,739 | 0.29 | 0 | 0 | |||||
National Movement for Stability and Progress | 6,764 | 0.26 | 0 | New | |||||
Out of EU and NATO | 6,598 | 0.25 | 0 | New | |||||
People's Voice | 5,560 | 0.21 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Morality, Initiative, Patriotism | 3,894 | 0.15 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Bulgarian Social Democracy – EuroLeft | 2,633 | 0.10 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Bulgarian Union for Direct Democracy | 2,517 | 0.10 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Bulgarian National Unification | 2,328 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Bulgarian National Union – New Democracy | 1,753 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Socialist Party "Bulgarian Way" | 730 | 0.03 | 0 | New | |||||
Independents | 924 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | |||||
None of the above | 109,095 | 4.14 | – | – | |||||
Total | 2,638,224 | 100.00 | 240 | 0 | |||||
Valid votes | 2,638,224 | 98.46 | |||||||
Invalid/blank votes | 41,370 | 1.54 | |||||||
Total votes | 2,679,594 | 100.00 | |||||||
Registered voters/turnout | 6,594,593 | 40.63 | |||||||
Source: Electoral Commission of Bulgaria |
Voter demographics
Alpha Research exit polling suggested the following demographic breakdown. The parties that got below 4% of the vote are included in "Others".
Voter demographics in percentage[49][50] | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Social group | GERB | PP–DB
|
Revival | DPS | BSP | ITN
|
BV | Levitsata! | Others | Lead |
Exit poll result | 25.7 | 25.1 | 13.9 | 13.6 | 9.0 | 3.9 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 0.6 |
Final result | 26.6 | 24.7 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 9.0 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 1.9 |
Gender | ||||||||||
Men | 25 | 24 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Women | 26 | 27 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
Age | ||||||||||
18–30 | 19 | 34 | 15 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 15 |
30–60 | 27 | 28 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
60+ | 30 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
Level of education | ||||||||||
Lower education | 16 | 7 | 7 | 49 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 33 |
Secondary education | 29 | 20 | 15 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
Higher education | 27 | 35 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
Ethnic group | ||||||||||
Bulgarian | 27 | 28 | 15 | 1 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
Turkish | 7 | 6 | 0 | 82 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 75 |
Roma | 20 | 8 | 10 | 40 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 20 |
Location | ||||||||||
Towns and villages | 24 | 12 | 6 | 39 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
Smaller cities | 29 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
Larger cities | 27 | 29 | 16 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
Sofia | 26 | 42 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
By constituency
Constituency | GERB–SDS | PP–DB | Revival | DPS | BSPzB | ITN
|
BV | The Left! | Others |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blagoevgrad | 32.1% | 17.6% | 9.2% | 19.9% | 9.0% | 3.5% | 4.9% | 2.2% | 6.1% |
Burgas | 27.3% | 21.2% | 14.5% | 15.1% | 8.4% | 4.1% | 4.5% | 2.1% | 5.1% |
Varna | 32.4% | 24.4% | 17.4% | 6.0% | 7.2% | 4.8% | 2.4% | 2.2% | 6.3% |
Veliko Tarnovo | 26.0% | 20.9% | 17.0% | 10.2% | 12.6% | 4.7% | 2.9% | 3.0% | 6.8% |
Vidin | 29.9% | 21.1% | 11.7% | 14.6% | 11.7% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 2.1% | 5.8% |
Vratsa | 32.4% | 17.3% | 13.4% | 10.7% | 11.1% | 4.0% | 7.2% | 1.8% | 6.3% |
Gabrovo | 34.0% | 22.1% | 17.3% | 4.2% | 9.6% | 4.4% | 2.9% | 2.7% | 5.5% |
Dobrich | 23.7% | 20.2% | 17.5% | 12.8% | 13.4% | 4.1% | 3.5% | 2.2% | 5.9% |
Kardzhali | 10.8% | 8.6% | 3.5% | 70.2% | 3.6% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 2.0% |
Kyustendil | 37.1% | 20.2% | 14.4% | 2.8% | 13.0% | 4.3% | 2.6% | 2.6% | 6.5% |
Lovech | 34.7% | 19.8% | 13.7% | 7.2% | 12.6% | 4.2% | 2.6% | 2.0% | 5.4% |
Montana | 33.3% | 15.2% | 13.3% | 20.0% | 9.1% | 3.2% | 1.8% | 2.0% | 5.6% |
Pazardzhik | 29.7% | 17.8% | 13.4% | 17.6% | 11.0% | 3.8% | 2.8% | 1.6% | 6.1% |
Pernik | 36.4% | 20.2% | 15.3% | 2.5% | 9.9% | 4.6% | 4.0% | 3.8% | 6.6% |
Pleven | 26.7% | 20.8% | 15.0% | 7.7% | 12.3% | 7.0% | 3.1% | 4.0% | 6.3% |
Plovdiv-city | 27.0% | 31.4% | 15.9% | 3.3% | 8.0% | 4.9% | 4.2% | 2.0% | 5.4% |
Plovdiv-province | 29.5% | 20.0% | 15.5% | 8.4% | 14.0% | 4.4% | 3.9% | 1.9% | 5.5% |
Razgrad | 19.1% | 18.0% | 7.4% | 44.4% | 5.7% | 1.8% | 1.5% | 0.8% | 3.5% |
Ruse | 24.3% | 25.2% | 16.6% | 10.0% | 10.0% | 5.4% | 2.8% | 2.3% | 6.6% |
Silistra | 28.0% | 15.5% | 10.4% | 30.4% | 7.7% | 2.7% | 2.1% | 1.3% | 4.4% |
Sliven | 33.2% | 20.9% | 15.0% | 6.2% | 11.0% | 4.1% | 3.7% | 3.3% | 6.6% |
Smolyan | 29.3% | 20.2% | 7.8% | 24.9% | 9.2% | 2.9% | 2.6% | 1.3% | 4.3% |
Sofia-city 23 | 22.4% | 44.7% | 12.8% | 0.8% | 6.7% | 3.2% | 2.8% | 3.2% | 4.4% |
Sofia-city 24 | 25.1% | 40.0% | 14.0% | 0.8% | 6.9% | 3.7% | 3.1% | 2.9% | 5.5% |
Sofia-city 25 | 28.3% | 32.1% | 16.3% | 0.7% | 7.9% | 4.4% | 3.4% | 2.8% | 6.2% |
Sofia-province | 35.0% | 19.3% | 14.5% | 6.8% | 11.8% | 4.2% | 3.3% | 2.3% | 6.4% |
Stara Zagora | 26.3% | 21.1% | 17.3% | 11.1% | 10.8% | 5.5% | 2.8% | 2.2% | 5.8% |
Targovishte | 20.9% | 13.9% | 9.4% | 33.2% | 14.6% | 2.8% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 4.0% |
Haskovo | 29.3% | 20.0% | 13.8% | 17.6% | 8.8% | 3.4% | 2.6% | 2.7% | 4.5% |
Shumen | 25.2% | 19.2% | 11.4% | 26.1% | 9.4% | 3.0% | 2.5% | 1.2% | 4.8% |
Yambol | 26.9% | 20.6% | 17.5% | 1.9% | 19.2% | 4.3% | 4.7% | 2.1% | 5.5% |
Bulgarian nationals abroad | 8.4% | 26.9% | 16.7% | 36.6% | 2.1% | 5.2% | 1.1% | 0.9% | 3.3% |
source: Electoral Commission of Bulgaria |
Presidential elections
Candidate | Running mate | Party | First round | Second round | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Votes | % | ||||
Russophiles for the Revival of the Fatherland | 8,213 | 0.31 | |||||
Tsveta Kirilova | Georgi Tutanov | Independent | 7,706 | 0.29 | |||
Aleksandar Tomov | Lachezar Avramov | Bulgarian Social Democratic Party–EuroLeft | 7,235 | 0.27 | |||
Boyan Rasate | Elena Vatashka | Bulgarian National Union – New Democracy | 6,798 | 0.25 | |||
Marina Malcheva | Savina Lukanova | Independent | 6,315 | 0.24 | |||
Zhelyo Zhelev | Kalin Krulev | Society for a New Bulgaria | 6,154 | 0.23 | |||
Blagoy Petrevski | Sevina Hadjiyska | Bulgarian Union for Direct Democracy | 5,518 | 0.21 | |||
Yolo Denev | Mario Filev | Independent | 5,394 | 0.20 | |||
Maria Koleva | Gancho Popov | Pravoto | 4,666 | 0.17 | |||
Georgi Georgiev-Goti | Stoyan Tsvetkov | Bulgarian National Unification | 2,958 | 0.11 | |||
None of the above | 60,786 | 2.27 | 34,169 | 1.48 | |||
Total | 2,675,935 | 100.00 | 2,307,610 | 100.00 | |||
Valid votes | 2,675,935 | 99.65 | 2,307,610 | 99.83 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 9,487 | 0.35 | 3,909 | 0.17 | |||
Total votes | 2,685,422 | 100.00 | 2,311,519 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 6,949,938 | 38.64 | 6,868,737 | 33.65 | |||
Source: Electoral Commission of Bulgaria (first round), Electoral Commission of Bulgaria (second round) |
European elections
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
NFSB–SEK) | 22,421 | 1.11 | 0 | 0 | |
NDSV–New Time | 21,315 | 1.06 | 0 | 0 | |
Attack | 20,906 | 1.04 | 0 | 0 | |
Revival | 20,319 | 1.01 | 0 | New | |
Coalition for Bulgaria | 16,759 | 0.83 | 0 | 0 | |
Democrats for Responsibility, Solidarity and Tolerance | 7,130 | 0.35 | 0 | New | |
People's Voice | 6,136 | 0.30 | 0 | 0 | |
Party of Greens | 6,051 | 0.30 | 0 | 0 | |
Movement 21 | 4,141 | 0.21 | 0 | New | |
Reload Bulgaria | 3,907 | 0.19 | 0 | New | |
Together Movement | 3,731 | 0.19 | 0 | New | |
VOLT | 3,500 | 0.17 | 0 | New | |
Direct Democracy | 2,425 | 0.12 | 0 | New | |
Bulgarian National Unification | 2,370 | 0.12 | 0 | New | |
Rise (RDP–ENP–BNF Chicago–SSD–BDS R) | 1,855 | 0.09 | 0 | New | |
Independents | 73,317 | 3.64 | 0 | 0 | |
None of the above | 61,029 | 3.03 | – | – | |
Total | 2,015,320 | 100.00 | 17 | 0 | |
Valid votes | 2,015,320 | 96.17 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 80,238 | 3.83 | |||
Total votes | 2,095,558 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 6,378,694 | 32.85 | |||
Source: CIK |
Judicial branch
The Bulgarian judicial system consists of regional, district and appeal courts, as well as a Supreme Court of Cassation and one Specialized Criminal Court.[51] In addition, there is a Supreme Administrative Court and a system of military courts. The Presidents of the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court as well as 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.
A qualified majority of two-thirds of the membership of the Supreme Judicial Council elects the Presidents of the Supreme Court of Cassation and of the Supreme Administrative Court, as well as the Prosecutor General, from among its members; the President of the Republic then appoints those elected.
The Supreme Judicial Council has charge of the self-administration and organization of the Judiciary.
The Constitutional Court of Bulgaria supervises the review of 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. Parliament elects the 12 members of the Constitutional Court by a two-thirds majority. The members serve for a nine-year term.
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 265 municipalities.
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
- President of Bulgaria
- Prime Minister of Bulgaria
- List of prime ministers of Bulgaria
- List of heads of state of Bulgaria
- List of presidents of Bulgaria (1990–present)
- List of ministries of Bulgaria
- Foreign relations of Bulgaria
- Flag of Bulgaria
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