Bulgaria to hold presidential election on October 25, parliament decides – BTA

This article is published under the cooperation agreement between Armenpress and the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

Bulgaria’s National Assembly on July 31 voted 138 in favour, none against and seven abstentions to hold the presidential and vice-presidential elections on October 25, the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) reported.

The decision was supported by Forward Bulgaria, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and Vazrazhdane. Seven lawmakers from the We Continue the Change party abstained, while GERB-UDF and Democratic Bulgaria did not participate in the vote.

If a second round is required, it will be held on November 1. Under Article 93(4) of Bulgaria’s Constitution, if no candidate is elected in the first round, a new vote is held within seven days between the two candidates who received the highest number of votes. The candidate receiving the most votes is elected.

The draft decision was submitted by representatives of various parliamentary groups.

Yordan Ivanov of Democratic Bulgaria said his party believes the date was chosen by the ruling majority to address declining public confidence in the government.

“In addition, Democratic Bulgaria considers it inappropriate that the second round, which is most likely to take place on November 1, coincides with a national holiday, when Bulgarian schools, community centres and municipalities take part in commemorative events. That is why Democratic Bulgaria did not support this date for the presidential election,” Ivanov said.

Petar Vitanov, leader of the Forward Bulgaria parliamentary group, said that the representative of Democratic Bulgaria, along with representatives of the other parties, had agreed to the date during earlier discussions.

“This is not an _expression_ of authoritarianism. The date was discussed by the parliamentary leadership, and with the exception of We Continue the Change, which did not sign the joint decision, we all discussed it and agreed that it was the most appropriate option,” he said.