Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP)

The political formations that participated in the parliamentary elections in November spent over BGN 7.3 million, according to a study by the Institute for the Development of the Public Environment.

A steering committee to nominate President Rumen Radev and Vice President Iliana Iotova as independent candidates to run for a second term in office at the November 14 presidential elections held its inaugural meeting on Monday. The committee comprises nearly 200 members, among them politicians, intellectuals, athletes, science, culture and art figures, and journalists.

A Trend survey commissioned by the 24 Chasa newspaper, dedicated to the attitudes of Bulgarians towards the main political forces in the country, shows that the political formation headed by former caretaker ministers Kiril Petkov and Asen Vassilev currently has the support of 9 per cent of voters, while GERB is regaining its leading position with a significant lead.

Bulgaria will hold its third parliamentary election in just one year as parliament will be dismissed in mid-September and the president must schedule early elections in late October or early November.

At the same time, the country will also hold presidential elections, in which current President Rumen Radev is set to be the absolute favourite.

The formerly ruling GERB party would win if early elections were held now, as support for There Is Such a People (TISP), the largest parliamentary force, slipped by about 5 percentage points in a month, according to an August 13-22 nationally representative survey among 1,055 people aged 18 or over. It was financed and conducted by bTV and Market Links.

President Rumen Radev Friday presented the third government-forming mandate to the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), which is the third largest parliamentary group in the 46th National Assembly. It is the last chance for this Parliament to try to form a government after the biggest and second biggest groups, There Is Such a People (TISP) and GERB, were unable or unwilling to do that.

GERB could be first political force, caretaker government improves its rating.

The leader of There is Such a People (TISP), Slavi Trifonov, Saturday reiterated on Bulgarian National Radio that his party will not support a government on the third cabinet-forming mandate, which under the Constitution President Rumen Radev has to hand either to the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Democratic Bulgaria or Rise Up BG! Here We Come!

The Bulgarian political world was shocked into action on August 10 when the party that won the country's July 11 elections, There is Such a Nation, withdrew its ministerial nominations, including a large number of young unknowns who were educated abroad, one day before a scheduled parliamentary approval vote.  

The attempt to form a government in Bulgaria failed after the showman and leader of There is Such a People (TISP) Stanislav Trifonov announced on 10 August afternoon on his private 7/8 TV that his party would not submit their proposed draft cabinet to parliament for voting.