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The Constitution provides for a multiparty, parliamentary
system and free elections on the basis of universal
suffrage. The parliament consists of 240-seat National
Assembly. Members are directly elected for four
years on the basis of proportional representation. Parties
and electoral coalitions need 4% of the popular vote
to qualify.
President
The President is the Head of State and is elected with direct elections once in every five years, for not more that two mandates. The Vice President is elected at the same time, with the same voting paper, and under the same conditions and procedure, as of the President.
The President is the supreme commander of the military forces of the Republic of Bulgaria. He assigns and discharges the supreme command staff of the military forces and promotes the supreme officers into higher ranks on proposals by the Council of Ministers. The President is the Chairperson of the Consultative Council for national security and has the power to:
 declare war in case of armed attack against Bulgaria, or if necessary, the country's implementation of international agreements;
declares general, or partial mobilization on request of the Council of Ministers;
declares martial law, or any other state of emergency, at cases when the National Assembly is not in session and is impossible to be called;
gives order to the Prime Minister to form the government;
selects the date of the elections for the National Assembly, as well as for the local self-management authorities;
points out the date for national referendum, after the corresponding decision of the National Assembly;
approves the adopted by the Parliament laws with a Decree, signed also by the Prime Minister, or by the relevant Minister;
The President's duties include to schedule referenda, to represent Bulgaria abroad and to conclude international treaties.
Elected President of the Republic of Bulgaria for second 5-years term : October 2006
President Mr. Georgi Parvanov
Name : Georgi
Last name : Parvanov
Date of birth : 28 June 1957
Place of birth : Sirishnik, Pernik district
Nationality : Bulgarian
Marital status : Married, with two sons
Education:
Mathematics college in Pernik: 1975
M.A. in History, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski: 1981
PhD in History: 1988
Professional Career:
Joined the Institute of History of the Bulgarian Communist Party as researcher: 1981
Main interest: the Bulgarian national issue and the early history of social democracy in Bulgaria
Senior Research Associate: 1989
Political career:
Member of the Bulgarian Socialist Party since 1981
Deputy Chairman of the BSP Supreme Council: 1994
Chairman of the BSP Supreme Council: 1996
On 4 February 1997, together with Nikolay Dobrev, nominated for Prime Minister, they returned the mandate for a second cabinet of the Democratic Left. By this difficult political compromise they saved the country from civil unrest after the attack on Parliament of 10-11 January 1997.
Re-elected Chairman of the BSP Supreme Council: 2000
Member of Parliament: 1994-2001
Chairman of the Parliamentary Group for Friendship with Greece and member of the Parliamentary Committee on Radio and Television: 1994-1997
Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Left and the Parliamentary Group of Coalition for Bulgaria: 1997-2001
Elected President of the Republic of Bulgaria: November 2001
Took office: 22 January 2002
Publications:
Dozens of scientific articles, monographs and books, including: Dimitar Blagoev and the Bulgarian National Problem 1879-1917 /1988/, From Bouzloudja to the Corona Theatre. An Attempt at a New Reading of Pages from the BSP's Social Democratic Period/1995/, The Bulgarian Social Democracy and the Macedonian Issue at the End of the 19th Century up to 1918 /1997/, Before and after the 10th /2001/.
Parliament
Bulgaria is a Parliamentary Republic and the basic power
in the country is the legislative one. The Parliament
(The National Assembly) exercises the legislative power,
as well as the right to parliamentary control.The mandate
of the National Assembly is a 4 - year one.The National
Assembly consists of 240 MPs. They are elected directly
by the voters for a 4 year term, on the basis of the
proportional system. So that the parties and the pre-election
coalitions enter the National Assembly, they must collect
above 4% of the total number of votes at the elections.
The MPs of the National Assembly represent not only
their election regions, but the whole nation as well.
The MPs work in compliance with the Constitution and
the legislation, following their conscience and convictions.
The National Assembly elects temporary and permanent
commissions, where MPs participate. It adopts laws,
decisions, declarations and statements. Every member
of the National Assembly, or the Council of Ministers
has the right to introduce a draft of a law. The draft
law on the state budget is developed and introduced
by the Council of Ministers.
Elections can be called before the end of the parliamentary
term in certain circumstances, such as the Government losing a confidence vote. Following elections, the largest
parliamentary group is asked to form a Government.
A simple parliamentary majority is required to approve
a Government, comprised of the Council
of Ministers, and to pass normal legislation. A
three-quarters majority is required to approve constitutional
changes.
| PROGRAMME
DECLARATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF EUROPEAN
DEVELOPMENT OF BULGARIA |
| 27
July 2009 |
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Dear Mr. President,
Dear Madame President of the National Assembly,
Dear Mr. Outgoing Prime Minister,
Dear Outgoing Ministers,
Your Holiness,
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen Deputies,
Your Excellencies,
Dear guests,
For the third year now Bulgaria has been an EU
Member State and participant in the European
politics. It is a fact and there is nobody able to
make it subject to doubt or change it. In
parallel, the earnings and life of Bulgarian
citizens, the public institutions’ work, and the
country’s governance lag well behind the
standards in other European States. Bulgarian
history, Bulgarian culture, the personal and
professional achievements of many Bulgarian
citizens turned out to be insufficient for us to
be accepted and respected by merit with dignity by
the European citizens, institutions and States.
This is not deliberately but it resulted from à
series of problems in the country’s governance
up to now, creating mistrust in our European
partners, and presenting us as a negative example.
Bulgaria obtained credit of trust and was accepted
as an EU Member State in 2007, with the expectance
to demonstrate its willingness and ability to
observe the European norms and standards. However,
the credit of trust has its limits and they can
not be endless. The time has come to demonstrate
that we are able to continue reforms and work
towards removal of the weaknesses found also by
the European Commission. This is the first and the
most important requirement on the way of the
European development of Bulgaria.
The main objective of the Government of Political
party GERB (Citizens for European Development of
Bulgaria) which I introduce to you today shall be
to guarantee and realise the European development
of the country.
Here, there is no accidental coincidence of names
and concepts. We obtained the trust of 1 670 000
Bulgarian citizens wanting to have
self-confidence, to live and succeed, to be
governed as Europeans. Our political
responsibility shall be to work so that we meet
these expectations, not admitting compromises in
the name of political stability and party comfort.
The Government’s objectives are high and go
beyond the horizon of the parliamentary mandate.
The results of their implementation will not come
quickly and instantly. This is the reason why we
specify several priority lines, along which the
Government of European Development of Bulgaria
will direct its will and efforts. They are not new
to Bulgarian citizens. The vote cast for Political
party GERB was the vote of trust for such
priorities. That is why from this high tribune I
declare the will of the Government of European
Development of Bulgaria to work for:
1. Increasing the earnings of Bulgarian
citizens, growth and modernization of Bulgarian
economy.
2. Securing the legal order in the
country, combating crime and restricting
corruption.
3. Reforming and improving the work of the
judicial system, to restore justice in society.
4. Restoring the trust of our European
partners in the country and defrosting the
suspended European funding.
5. Improving the social security of
Bulgarian citizens. Creating favourable and
healthy living environment, to secure the personal
and public health.
6. Developing the nation’s human capital
and creating conditions for success for every
citizen.
7. Turning the country into essential
factor for stability in the region and the world,
a respected EU Member State.
Structure of the Council of Ministers:
1. The Council of Ministers of the Republic of
Bulgaria shall be composed of: Prime Minister, two
Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers. The Deputy
Prime Ministers and the Ministers shall be in
charge of individual Ministries, except for the
Minister without portfolio.
2. The Ministries shall be:
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works
Ministry of Labour and Social Policy
Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Education, Youth and Science
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Environment and Water
Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and
Communications
Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism
Ministry of Physical Education and Sports
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Boyko
Borissov