Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria

Bulgaria's ruling conservative party of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov scored a resounding victory in local elections this weekend, winning mayoral seats in 22 out of the 27 major cities, official results showed on Nov. 2.

The Bulgarian Parliament is to hold an election of the country's new ombudsman on Thursday.

There are two candidates for the position - the incumbent ombudsman Konstantin Penchev, who was nominated for a second term by the Reformist Bloc (RB) and Maya Manolova, who is a nomination of her colleagues from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

After nearly two hours of talks on Tuesday, center-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), liberal party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and right-wing formation the Reformist Bloc failed to reach agreement on draft constitutional amendments.

Two bills introducing changes to Bulgaria's Energy Act passed first reading in Parliament on Tuesday.

The two bills had been submitted by center-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) and right-wing formation the Reformist Bloc.

Dimitar Radev has been elected Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).

Bulgaria's Parliament backed Radev out of a total of four candidates for the post.

Outgoing BNB Governor Ivan Iskrov was voted out of office by Parliament shortly before his successor was elected.

Nationalist formation the Patriotic Front (PF) has made clear that it will continue to back the government.

Velari Simeonov, Co-Chair of PF, announced at a press conference in Parliament that the coalition was pleased with the developments on five of the seven points PF had brought up one month ago in their ultimatum to the government.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has vowed that Health Minister Petar Moskov will withdraw a set of legal amendments paving the way for the privatization of hospitals.

Speaking Wednesday in Parliament, Borisov assured that hospitals would not be removed from the no-privatization list.

Bulgarian beekeepers will stage a protest in front of the Parliament building in Sofia at 1 p.m. on Wednesday over a set of proposed amendments to the Beekeeping Act.

The changes were backed by MPs from center-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) and nationalist party the Patriotic Front, according to reports of Darik radio.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has boasted that Bulgaria has outpaced Romania in the sphere of fight against corruption, as well as in taxes and EU funds absorption.

In a Monday interview for Nova TV, Borisov underscored that the prosecuting authority was "absolutely independent", citing the lawsuits against former Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov as a case in point.

Bulgaria's Parliament has adopted changes to the Referendum Act enabling Bulgarians living abroad to vote in referendums.
The legal amendments were proposed by ruling center-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB).

The changes also regulate the organization of referendums alongside local elections.