Bulgaria is a parliamentary representative democratic republic, and according to its Constitution, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria is the head of government. The President of Bulgaria serves as the head of state and is elected by direct popular vote for a five-year term. The unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie is the Bulgarian Parliament that consists of 240 members who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms.

The Bulgarian political system operates on the principle of parliamentary democracy, which enables citizens to choose their representatives in free and fair elections. The current Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has been in office since 2009, leading a coalition government between his centre-right party GERB and United Patriots. Since then, Borisov has won two consecutive elections in 2009 and 2013, as well as an early election in 2017. Visit COUNTRYAAH for a list of countries that start with letter B.

The major parties in Bulgaria are the centre-right GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria), socialists BSP (Bulgarian Socialist Party), nationalists United Patriots (a coalition formed by three right-wing parties) and MRF (Movement for Rights and Freedoms). However, since 2017 a new party – Democratic Bulgaria – has been established as a ‘third force’ that strives to break through traditional politics with progressive ideas. Besides these major parties there are many other small parties operating in Bulgaria such as ABV (Alternative for Bulgarian Renaissance) or VMRO (Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization).

Yearbook 2016

Bulgaria. A new electoral law was adopted in April as an attempt to stop a trend of declining turnout. The law contained a form of voting duty which meant that those who did not participate in an election would fall out of the voting list and had to re-register in order to vote in future elections. The law helped Prime Minister Boiko Borisov’s center-right government lose its majority in parliament in May when the smaller coalition partner mid-left party ABV withdrew its support. Deputy Prime Minister Ivailo Kalfin, who belonged to ABV, also voiced criticism of what he called an overly Western-friendly foreign and security policy and the lack of reforms to restructure the economy.

Bulgaria Population 2016

According to countryaah, the current population of Bulgaria is 6,948,456. ABV’s resignation was seen by other government members as part of a left-wing assembly ahead of this fall’s presidential election, and they accused the center-left party of forming a Russian-friendly alliance with the Socialist Party and the ethnic Turkish party DPS.

According to thereligionfaqs, Bulgaria’s relationship with the Russian Federation, on the one hand, and the EU and NATO on the other, formed a sharp political dividing line. Plans for increased NATO efforts were disputed, with divisions within the government as to how large the country would play in regional defense efforts. Bulgaria withdrew from a joint patrol plan in the Black Sea, and in August the commander of the Air Force, Rumen Radev, resigned in protest of allowing other NATO countries – primarily the United States – to monitor the airspace over Bulgaria.

Shortly after his departure, Radev was named Socialist Party candidate in the presidential election. Radev, who was also a fighter pilot, had no background in politics, but opposed, among other things, EU sanctions against the Russian Federation and advocated a rapprochement with Moscow. Prime Minister Borisov threatened to resign if Radev won.

  • Abbreviation Finder: Check to see how the 3-letter abbreviation of BUL stands for the nation of Bulgaria in geography.

In September, US fighter jets participated for the first time in aviation patrol with the Bulgarian Air Force in a new front to deter Russian aggression.

In the first round of the presidential elections in November, 21 candidates participated. Radev received the most votes, followed by Parliament’s Speaker Tsetska Tsatjeva, who was the dominant Conservative government party GERB’s candidate. In the decisive election round a week later Radev won with 59% of the vote. As a result, Borisov immediately filed his resignation application.

Despite the new law on voting duty, turnout was no more than 56% in the first round and 50% in the second.

In December, outgoing President Rosen Plevneliev gave up his attempts to establish an interim government.