The politics of Bulgaria take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
A caretaker government, also known as a caretaker regime, is a temporary ad hoc government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it consists of either randomly selected members of parliament or outgoing members until their dismissal.
The National Assembly is the unicameral parliament and legislative body of the Republic of Bulgaria. The first National Assembly was established in 1879 with the Tarnovo Constitution.
The Chamber of Audit (Bulgaria), also referred to as Bulgarian National Audit Office, is the state auditor of the Government of Bulgaria and directly subordinate of the National Assembly. It carries out external control of the financial resources and activities in the public sector. Dimitar Glavchev was elected as President of the Bulgarian National Audit Office on 28 July 2023, for a 7 year long term. If Glavchev - as expected - will be approved as the next caretaker Prime Minister of Bulgaria in 2024, he will take unpaid leave for the duration of his Prime Minister tenure, and designate a vice president of BNAO to exercise his powers while being on unpaid leave.
Rumen Georgiev Radev is a Bulgarian politician and former major general who has been the president of Bulgaria since 22 January 2017.
A rotation government or alternation government is one of the ways of forming of a government in a parliamentary state. It is a government that, during its term, will see the individual holding the post of prime minister switch, whether within the same political bloc or as part of a grand coalition. Israel has seen by far the most experience with such a governing arrangement. The government of Ireland is now in its second rotation agreement. Usually, this alternation is guided by constitutional convention with tactical resignation of the first officeholder to allow the second to form a new government. Israel, which established the rotation mechanism in 1984, codified it in 2020.
Meglena Plugchieva is a former Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister, ambassador and member of the Bulgarian National Assembly from the Socialist Party. She was Ambassador to Montenegro from 2019 to 2022.
Tsveta Valcheva Karayancheva is a Bulgarian engineer and politician who served as Speaker of the National Assembly from 2017 to 2021. A member of the GERB party, she also served as Member of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2021, before returning in 2024.
Early parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 9 June 2024, to elect members of the National Assembly. The election coincided with the European Parliament election on the same day.
The Denkov Government is the 102nd cabinet of Bulgaria. It was approved by the parliament on 6 June 2023, and is a majority coalition of GERB and PP–DB. Per the coalition agreement, it is set to be a rotation government, where PP–DB's Nikolai Denkov would start with the premiership, with GERB's Mariya Gabriel serving as deputy prime minister, and after nine months, the two would switch positions. Per the agreement, Denkov and his cabinet resigned on 6 March 2024 in preparation for Gabriel to form her cabinet, although the Denkov government stayed on in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet is formed.
The Forty-Fourth National Assembly was a convocation of the National Assembly of Bulgaria, formed according to the results of the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria, held on 26 March 2017.
The Forty-Second National Assembly was a convocation of the National Assembly of Bulgaria, formed according to the results of the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria, held on May 12, 2013.
Dimitar Borisov Glavchev is a Bulgarian politician who is the current caretaker Prime Minister of Bulgaria. A political independent, he is also the Head of the Chamber of Audit, currently on unpaid leave. He was previously a member of the GERB party and served as Member of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2021. In 2017, he briefly served as Chairman of the National Assembly.
The First Glavchev Government was the 103rd cabinet of Bulgaria. It was appointed by President Rumen Radev on 9 April 2024, and sworn in the same day. The Glavchev Caretaker Cabinet was the first Caretaker Cabinet to be selected using the system created by the Constitutional Amendments of December 2023, and was the first Caretaker Cabinet to be sworn in in the presence of the National Assembly, rather than in the presence of the President.
Stefan Dimitrov is a Bulgarian politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in April 2024. A political independent, he is also a diplomat who is the current Bulgarian Ambassador to Montenegro. From 2015 to 2019, he headed the Bulgarian consulate in Frankfurt.
Galya Kondeva is a Bulgarian physician and civil servant.
Goritsa Nikolova Grancharova-Kozhareva is a Bulgarian auditor serving as Deputy Chairperson of the Chamber of Audit. A political independent, she was selected to become Prime Minister of Bulgaria and form a caretaker government in August 2024. However, due to nominating the controversial figure of Kalin Stoyanov for Minister of Interior, her appointment to the position was blocked by President Rumen Radev.
Snap parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 27 October 2024, after all three attempts to form a government following the latest June 2024 elections failed. This was the country's sixth snap election since 2021. This series of snap elections is the result of a political crisis affecting the country.
Kalin Georgiev Stoyanov is a Bulgarian law enforcement worker and politician who was the Minister of Interior in the Denkov and First Glavchev Caretaker Government. A political independent, he has worked for the Ministry of Interior since 2003, holding the position of head of the General Directorate Combatting Organised Crime between 2021 and 2023.
