Bulgaria Set for Yet Another Election in the Spring of 2022

November 20, 2021 by  
Filed under Events, Featured, Missions, News

Current Socialist Bulgarian President won a second term with the overwhelming support of President Biden. However, during the election debates, President Radev slipped and claimed the Ukrainian Crimea belonged to Russia. By the time the election results were finalized on Monday, both the European Union and the U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria issued notes of warning stating that, Crimea is part of the Ukraine and is currently under Russian occupation. Also on Monday, U.S. Congress forwarded a letter to the Bulgarian government for an immediate decision on the acceptance of Macedonia in the European Union.

These escalations occur in the midst of Bulgaria unable to form a government after three consecutive elections in 2021. As it is highly improbable the current election winner with only 26% will be able to form a government without a political majority, another election may be on the horizon of 2022.
Apart from the Crimean and Macedonian questions, the next Bulgarian government has committed to President Biden’s tri-sea initiative leading to most drastic political restructuring as follows:
1. Accepting the cross-gender Istanbul Convention
2. Pushing Bulgaria toward military involvement in the Crimean Crises
3. Opening Bulgaria as a regional big-pharma hub for modern vaccine testing

Changes in the Bulgarian Constitution may push the country from Parliamentarian to a Presidential republic alike the Russian model set by Putin’s “democracy.” But before all this happens, an actual government will have to be formed in the midst of a very cold winter with rising gas prices and electricity prices already increased by some 30%. Drained by the 2020 pandemic and with no government help or any tax break, the evangelical churches in Bulgaria are not prepared for any of these new challenges.

Bulgarian Election Results Bring More Uncertainty for 2022

November 15, 2021 by  
Filed under Featured, Missions, News

New centrist party poised to win Bulgarian election, will not end the long months of deadlock as Routers projects. With the lowest activity ever recorded in Bulgaria, the new election winner cannot form a majority parliament with only 25.34% of the vote. In an even more complicated scenario, to possibly form a coalition with the 2nd highest vote party will add only 22.4% percent, which will still be insufficient for a 51% parliamentarian majority. It certainly looks like a new (fourth) round of parliamentarian elections in the Spring of 2022.

Even more uncertain are the results of the parallel Presidential vote where current socialist president won with 49.4% – just a notch short from the 51% needed to remain in power. It is also disturbing that the current Bulgarian president who represents the Socialist Party in the country was mentioned by name (sic [b]Radev) as an ally and partner (in the video below) by U.S. President Joe Biden. The hope is that in the ballot this coming weekend, the second candidate in the election may overturn the vote in his favor so Bulgaria can receive at least a bit more democracy-oriented new President. For all this, your prayers are still coveted.

New centrist party poised to win Bulgarian election, could end months of deadlock

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/new-centrist-party-poised-win-bulgarias-election-partial-results-show-2021-11-15/

• Bulgaria holds third parliamentary election this year
• New party set up by two entrepreneurs tops the poll
• Parliament still fragmented, tough coalition talks loom
• Incumbent Radev is frontrunner for presidential run-off

SOFIA, Nov 15 (Reuters) – A new centrist political party emerged as the likely winner of Bulgaria’s national election on Monday, partial data showed, boosting hopes for an end to months of political deadlock in the European Union’s poorest member state. The anti-graft We Continue The Change party (PP), launched by two former interim ministers only two months ago, was in the lead with 25.4% of the vote, based on 61% of ballots counted from Sunday’s election,the third in Bulgaria this year. After two previous elections in April and July produced an inconclusive outcome, Bulgarian voters are keen to see a new government formed quickly to tackle a dire COVID-19 situation, surging energy prices and widespread graft.

“I voted for what we are fighting for and hoping to happen – a more serious change in everything, so that we can have a better life here, at least for our children,” Kostadin Manov, a 39-year-old father of two, said after casting his vote in the capital Sofia.

“This corruption and all this theft should stop.”

But the partial results show the next parliament will be even more fragmented than in April and July, with seven parties represented.

TOUGH COALITION TALKS
Voter turnout in Sunday’s vote is estimated at about 40% – a historic low amid public disillusionment and apathy and also coronavirus infections that have left hospitals overwhelmed. The centre-right GERB party of long-serving premier Boyko Borissov was seen coming in second place with 22.2% of the vote. His decade-long rule ended with the April election amid public anger over his failure to crack down on corruption.

President Rumen Radev, a harsh critic of Borissov, won 49.2% of votes in a presidential election that also took place on Sunday and is tipped to win a second five-year term in the largely ceremonial post in a runoff set for Nov. 21.

Analysts said the new PP party – set up by two Harvard-educated entrepreneurs – looked better positioned to seal a coalition with the support of the Socialists, who won 10.3% of the vote, the anti-graft alliance Democratic Bulgaria with 6% and the ITN party of TV talk show host Slavi Trifonov.
Trifonov’s party had topped the July vote with 24% but the partial results show it now getting just 9.8% after his failure to forge a government.

However, tough coalition negotiations lie ahead before a workable government can be formed.
“Forming a government… will be more complicated because at least four parties will be needed for a majority,” said Dobromir Zhivkov, political analyst with Market Links pollster.
PP leader Kiril Petkov promised on Sunday to be open to dialogue and compromise in coalition talks but said his party would not renege on pledges to overhaul the judiciary and clamp down on corruption. read more

“Bulgaria is headed onto a new path,” said Petkov, who hopes to become prime minister and to have his PP co-founder, Assen Vassilev, as finance minister.

Bulgaria set for third election this year in November

October 1, 2021 by  
Filed under Featured, News

Protest party ITN edged out the conservative GERB in the latest vote, but was not able to form a government. Bulgarian President Rumen Radev will also be running for reelection. Bulgaria will hold its third parliamentary election since April on November 14, President Rumen Radev announced Saturday. Following months of deadlock, Bulgarians are set to once again choose a new parliament after neither of the three largest parties was able to secure a majority government after an election in July. On Saturday, Radev announced that presidential elections will be held on the same day to save money. He is hoping to secure his second term in November.

President Biden delivers remarks at Bulgaria’s Three Sea’s initiative, which aims to reinforce ties between countries along the borders of the Baltic, Adriatic, and Black Seas.

Who is predicted to win?

Protest party ITN, that emerged from mass demonstrations against corruption in 2020, won the July election  but was  not able to secure a majority in parliament.

Protesters take part in an anti-government demonstration in Sofia, BulgariaAnti-corruption protests in the summer of 2020 led to the creation of a protest led by an entertainer

The latest polls indicate a similarly inconclusive race ahead of the November election.

The pro-EU, centre-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) is now leading in a Politico poll by 23% with ITN on 20% support.

In contrast, the leftwing alliance, led by the Socialist Party, is trailing the top two with 16% of the popular support, according to the poll. It achieved 13.2% of the vote at last July’s parliamentary elections.

The split sets the scene for more political instability amid the COVID-19 economic crisis and Bulgaria’s desire to enter the eurozone in 2024.

What of the presidential elections?

President Radev is an independent who is widely considered one of the most popular politicians in Bulgaria. He is tipped to win a second term in office.

While the Bulgarian president’s powers are largely ceremonial, he can also propose legislation and force new votes in parliament by vetoing policy.

“I will count on the support of all respectable Bulgarians on the big issues – the fight against poverty and injustice,” said Radev.

Government Elections in Bulgaria (2005-2019):

2005 Parliamentary Elections
2006 Presidential Elections
2007 Municipal Elections
2009 Parliamentary Elections
2009 European Parliament elections
2011 Presidential Elections
2011 Local Elections
2013 Early parliamentary elections
2014 Early Parliamentary Elections
2015 Municipal Elections
2016 Presidential election
2017 Parliamentary elections
2019 European Parliament election (23-26 May)
2019 Bulgarian local elections
2019 Municipal Elections

BULGARIAN ELECTION: Bulgaria: Prime Minister and Cabinet Step Down

April 5, 2021 by  
Filed under Featured, News

Government Elections in Bulgaria (2005-2021):

2005 Parliamentary Elections
2006 Presidential Elections
2007 Municipal Elections
2009 Parliamentary Elections
2009 European Parliament elections
2011 Presidential Elections
2011 Local Elections
2013 Early parliamentary elections
2014 Early Parliamentary Elections
2015 Municipal Elections
2016 Presidential election
2017 Parliamentary elections
2019 European Parliament election (23-26 May)
2019 Bulgarian local elections
2019 Municipal Elections
2021 Parliamentary elections

AS WE HAVE PREVIOUSLY PROPOSED, THIS PUTS BULGARIA BACK ON THE “RED LIGHT OF 30 YEARS OF COMMUNISM…” AS IN 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 AND 2020…

According to Article 111(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov submitted to the newly elected 45th National Assembly the resignation of the Council of Ministers he headed. Prime Minister Borisov’s letter tendering the resignation of the Cabinet was deposited today with the President of the National Assembly via the registries of the two institutions. In accordance with Art. 111, para. 3 of the Constitution, the government led by Prime Minister Borisov will continue to perform its functions until the election of a new Council of Ministers and will ensure continuity in government.

BULGARIA: 2017 Election Results

March 30, 2017 by  
Filed under Featured, News

As we have previously proposed, this puts Bulgaria back on the “Red Light of 25 Years of Communism…” as in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016…

Government Elections in Bulgaria (2005-2015):

elections 20132005 Parliamentary Elections
2006 Presidential Elections
2007 Municipal Elections
2009 Parliamentary Elections
2009 European Parliament elections
2011 Presidential Elections
2011 Local Elections
2013 Early parliamentary elections
2014 Early Parliamentary Elections
2015 Municipal Elections

Washington Post/Associated Press

SOFIA, Bulgaria — The center-right GERB party of former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov took the lead in Bulgaria’s parliamentary election on Sunday, a pair of exit polls showed, a result that if confirmed by official returns indicates support for the country keeping its European identity.

The Alpha Research exit poll said GERB won 32.2 percent of the vote, with the Socialist Party coming in second with 28 percent, while a separate exit poll by Gallup International Balkan had GERB with 32.8 percent and the Socialists with 28.4 percent.

The leader of the Socialists Party later conceded defeat and said the party would not take part in a coalition government with GERB.

Official results are expected Monday. If they confirm the exit polls, Borisov, a political maverick who combines man-in-the-street rhetoric with a pro-European Union disposition, will be handed a mandate to form his third cabinet.

GERB did not win enough votes to govern alone, and will likely form a coalition government with the United Patriots, an alliance of three nationalist parties that the exit polls showed placing third.

Borisov, 57, resigned as prime minister after his party lost the November 2016 presidential election. Parliament was dissolved in January, and the president appointed a caretaker government that will stay until a new government is formed.

Bulgaria set for snap election as president appoints interim government

March 5, 2017 by  
Filed under Featured, News

Bulgaria’s new president called an early national election for 26 March and appointed a former parliamentary speaker as caretaker prime minister until then.

Ognyan Gerdzhikov, 70, currently a professor of law and head of an arbitration court, served as speaker of parliament in a centrist government from 2001 to 2005 and is now the country’s interim prime minister until the March elections. Kiril Ananiev, 61, currently a deputy finance minister in charge of budgets, will take over as finance minister, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Ananiev is seen as a safe pair of hands, having served as deputy finance minister in five different governments. The appointments show that President Rumen Radev, who took office this month after winning an election with the backing of the opposition Socialists, is seeking continuity and balance, analysts said.

Bulgaria’s 2016 Presidential Election and Referendum Go to Runoff Ballot

November 5, 2016 by  
Filed under Events, Featured, News

Some 6.8 million Bulgarians are eligible to choose their new president who will replace incumbent Rosen Plevneliev after his five-year term ends in January. The election campaign focused mainly on the future of the European Union, relations with Russia and the threats from a possible rise in migrant inflows from neighboring Turkey

For the first time, voting in the presidential elections will be compulsory.

A tight race as expected between the two frontrunners, Parliament Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva, nominated by main ruling party GERB, and former Air Force Commander Maj Gen Rumen Radev, endorsed by the main opposition force, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Tsacheva, pointed by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in October, is expected to win the first round by a narrow margin.

  • Gallup International has projected a 26.7% support for Radev, while the candidate of the main ruling GERB party, Tsetska Tsacheva, has ranked second, having mastered 22.5%
  • Alpha Research, another pollster offering exit poll results, suggests Radev has garnered 24.8%, with Tsacheva’s support at 23.5%.
  • According to Alpha Research, third, lagging far behind, is nationalist candidate Krasimir Karakachanov, at 13.6%.
  • Fourth, surprisingly, comes businessman Veselin Mareshki (9.3%) who runs as an independent candidate, followed by Reformist Bloc’s Traycho Traykov at 7.1%.

elections 2013Government Elections in Bulgaria (2005-2015)

2005 Parliamentary Elections
2006 Presidential Elections
2007 Municipal Elections
2009 Parliamentary Elections
2009 European Parliament elections
2011 Presidential Elections
2011 Local Elections
2013 Early parliamentary elections
2014 Early Parliamentary Elections
2015 Municipal Elections

25 Years after Communism…

25 years in 60 seconds at the red-light…

I’m driving slowly in the dark and raining streets of my home town passing through clouds of car smoke. The gypsy ghetto in the outskirts of town is covered with the fog of fires made out of old tires burning in the yards. And the loud music adds that grotesque and gothic nuance to the whole picture with poorly clothed children dancing around the burnings.

The first red light stops me at the entrance to the “more civilized” part of the city. The bright counter right next to it slowly moves through the long 60 seconds while tiredly walking people pass through the intersection to go home and escape the cold rain. The street ahead of me is already covered with dirt and thickening layer of sleet.

This is how I remember Bulgaria of my youth and it seems like nothing has changed in the past 25 years.

The newly elected government just announced its coalition cabinet – next to a dozen like it that had failed in the past two decades. The gas price is holding firmly at $6/gal. and the price of electricity just increased by 10%, while the harsh winter is already knocking at the doors of poor Bulgarian households. A major bank is in collapse threatening to take down the national banking system and create a new crisis much like in Greece. These are the same factors that caused Bulgaria’s major inflation in 1993 and then hyperinflation in 1996-97.

What’s next? Another winter and again a hard one!

Ex-secret police agents are in all three of the coalition parties forming the current government. The ultra nationalistic party called “ATTACK” and the Muslim ethnic minorities party DPS are out for now, but awaiting their move as opposition in the future parliament. At the same time, the new-old prime minister (now in his second term) is already calling for yet another early parliamentarian election in the summer. This is only months after the previous elections in October, 2014 and two years after the ones before them on May 2013.

Every Bulgarian government in the past 25 years has focused on two rather mechanical goals: cardinal socio-economical reforms and battle against communism. The latter is simply unachievable without deep reformative change within the Bulgarian post-communist mentality. The purpose of any reform should be to do exactly that. Instead, what is always changing is the outwardness of the country. The change is only mechanical, but never organic within the country’s heart.

Bulgaria’s mechanical reforms in the past quarter of a century have proven to be only conditional, but never improving the conditions of living. The wellbeing of the individual and the pursuit of happiness, thou much spoken about, are never reached for they never start with the desire to change within the person. For this reason, millions of Bulgarians and their children today work abroad, pursuing another life for another generation.

The stop light in front of me turns green bidding the question where to go next. Every Bulgarian today must make a choice! Or we’ll be still here at the red light in another 25 years from now…

Bulgaria election winner forms new government

November 5, 2014 by  
Filed under Featured, News

_68914373_68914321[1]SOFIA, Bulgaria – Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has formally given the winner of recent parliamentary elections a mandate to form a new government, seeking to restore stability in the poorest EU member country.

Conservative Boyko Borisov won the largest share in Oct. 5 early parliamentary elections, ousting a Socialist-led coalition. The 55-year-old former bodyguard and mayor of Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia, founded his center-right GERB party in 2006, and was prime minister between 2009 and 2013. Borisov’s party won only 84 of the 240 parliamentary seats, and he faces the hard task of forming a right-wing coalition with sufficient support in the fragmented legislature.

The winner of Bulgaria’s parliamentary election signed an accord on Thursday to form a minority coalition government after a month of talks, a welcome breakthrough for a country reeling from a bank crisis and struggling to revive economic growth.

  • Minority centre-right govt to rely on allies for support
  • PM-designate Borisov was toppled by protests in Feb 2013
  • New cabinet must tackle bank crisis, fiscal deficit
  • Parliament expected to approve govt on Friday (Adds quote, details, background)

Bulgaria election winner to form minority government

October 10, 2014 by  
Filed under Featured, News

(Reuters) – The winner of Bulgaria’s general election said on Monday it was ready to form a minority government with the support of other parties, after a fractured result that threatens more instability in the Balkan country.

Led by a former bodyguard and karate expert, the centre-right GERB party won around a third of the vote but is likely to find itself dozens of seats short of a majority. That may leave Bulgaria, one of Europe’s poorest countries, with another shaky coalition struggling to solve a bank crisis and revive growth.

A record eight parties were expected to enter parliament, as disappointment with the main parties strengthened the attractions of fringe players.

If a coalition cannot be formed, Bulgarians who have seen their country lurch from one crisis to the next may have to head to the voting booths yet again. The new government will be the fifth in less than two years, during which mass street protests toppled a previous GERB administration and nearly felled its successor.

More instability would also dismay investors. Foreign direct investment has fallen by more than a fifth this year.

In a sign of possible trouble ahead, GERB leader Boiko Borisov warned it would be difficult to form a coalition. Party officials said GERB would look to form a minority government, either alone or with the help of smaller parties.

“We are ready to form a minority government and we expect support from other parties,” Rumiana Bachvarova, a senior GERB official, told a news conference. Another senior GERB official warned Bulgaria could have another election by Christmas if cross-party talks broke down.

Underscoring the high level of disillusionment with the political class, the exit polls suggested voter turnout was the lowest in the 25 years since Bulgaria emerged from communism.

“With such a fragmented parliament, it’s difficult to form a government and it also raises the question of how stable it will be,” said Dimitar Bechev, a political analyst. Bulgarian stocks fell on Monday, bucking a rising regional trend.

“Investors are not excited, for sure, because with a surprisingly big number of parties in the next parliament, the possibility for a reformist majority that can push ahead with reforms is very small,” said Dimitar Georgiev, a trader at the Sofia-based brokerage Elana.

Election Results in Bulgaria 2011

October 25, 2011 by  
Filed under Featured, News

elections-2011-for-web1October 24, 2011

October 23, 2011

October 22, 2011