Bulgarian MPs, President Clash Over Holding Two Elections at Once

Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev arriving in Brussels, June 24, for an EU meeting. Photo: EPA-EFE/JOHANNA GERON / POOL

"Such a mixture of parliamentary and presidential elections is against the spirit of our constitution and the separation of institutions," Radev said before a new session of parliament, where MPs are expected to vote on the date for the parliamentary elections, either on Friday or Monday. 

Bulgaria is heading into an unprecedented political situation where two elections may either be organised at once or within a short span of time.

Earlier parliamentary elections held in the spring and in the summer were inconclusive and the next presidential elections are scheduled for November 14.

The last parliamentary election will be officially declared inconclusive once the Bulgarian Socialist Party likely returns a mandate to form a government on September 7, following earlier unsuccessful attempts by the former ruling GERB party and the winning party in the last election, "There is Such a Nation".

In another possible twist, if parliamentary elections are held quickly after the presidential election, they could clash with a possible second round of the presidential polls on November 21.

While MPs from various parties agree that it is logistically better for both elections to be held on November 14, President Radev is against the idea, although he conceded that holding two separate elections will be a challenge: "We have to acknowledge that the crisis we're in is worsening, that we have to demand from Bulgarians to vote in three consecutive weeks and that this will be connected with a lot of resources and time spent." He added: "I'll be searching for a rational decision."

Later on Friday, Desislava Angelova from...