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.
The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), also known as The Centenarian, is a centre-left, social democratic political party in Bulgaria. The BSP is a member of the Socialist International, Party of European Socialists, and Progressive Alliance. Although founded in 1990 in its modern form, it traces its political heritage back to the founding of the BRSDP in 1891. It is also Bulgaria's largest party by membership numbers.
Petar Stefanov Stoyanov is a Bulgarian politician who served as President of Bulgaria from 1997 to 2002. A member of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), he was the party's nominee to succeed one-term president Zhelyu Zhelev in 1996. He was elected to the Presidency in 1996, but lost his reelection bid in 2001. Following a brief retirement from politics, he became an MP in 2005 and later Chairman of UDF from 1 October 2005 to 22 May 2007. He resigned following the 2007 European Parliament election.
The Union of Democratic Forces is a political party in Bulgaria, founded in 1989 as a union of several political organizations in opposition to the communist government. The Union was transformed into a single unified party with the same name. The SDS is a member of the European People's Party (EPP). In the 1990s the party had the largest membership in the country, with one million members, but has since splintered into a number of small parties totaling no more than 40,000 members. The SDS proper had 12,000 members in 2016.
Andrey Karlov Lukanov was a Bulgarian politician. Between February and November 1990, Lukanov was the final Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bulgaria.
Zhan Vasilev Videnov, sometimes spelled in English as Jean Videnov, was Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 25 January 1995 until 13 February 1997, a term remembered for the most severe economic and financial crisis in recent Bulgarian history, which featured hyperinflation and a drastic fall in living standards. He was chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) from 1991 to 1996. Currently he is a college lecturer and inspirer of Che Guevara of Plovdiv.
Sergey Dmitrievich Stanishev is a Bulgarian politician who served Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2005 to 2009. A member of the Socialist Party, which he led from 2001 to 2014, he later served as Member of the European Parliament from 2014 to 2024. Stanishev was also the President of the European Socialists from 2011 to 2022 and a Member of the National Assembly from 1997 to 2005 and from 2009 to 2014.
Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 25 June 2005, for the 240 members of the National Assembly. According to exit polls, the Socialists had a lead with around 31%, but without a majority, necessitating the creation of a coalition. The National Movement for Simeon II, in power before the election, was in second place, with around 21%. Following the election, Socialist Party leader Sergei Stanishev became prime minister.
The history of Bulgaria from 1990 to the present is the period of Bulgarian history that begins after the fall of Communism and the transition to a market economy.
The eighty-ninth cabinet of Bulgaria, also known as the Three-party coalition cabinet and the Stanishev Government, ruled from August 17, 2005, to July 27, 2009. The cabinet was formed with the coalition of the three leading at that time: BSP, NDSV and DPS, in order of their parliamentary representation. Their parliamentary representation also determined the number of cabinet appointments.
Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 18 December 1994. The Democratic Left, the core of which was the Bulgarian Socialist Party, won 125 of the 240 seats, enough to govern without the support of parties from outside the coalition. Voter turnout was 75.3%. Following the election, Socialist Party leader Zhan Videnov became prime minister.
Plamen Vasilev Oresharski is a Bulgarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2013 to 2016. Affiliated with the Bulgarian Socialist Party, he previously served as Member of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2013, Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2009 and Deputy Minister of Finance from 1997 to 2001.
The eighty-eighth cabinet of Bulgaria, also known as the Sakskoburggotski Government and informally as the Tsar's cabinet, ruled from July 24, 2001 to August 17, 2005. Although the National Movement Simeon II won half the National Assembly seats in the 2001 parliamentary election, and therefore could have probably governed alone, a cabinet was formed as a coalition between the winners and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. Although not in a coalition with the Tsar's party, the Bulgarian Socialist Party held two cabinet posts as well. Their members sat as independents.
The eighty-seventh cabinet of Bulgaria ruled from May 21, 1997 to July 24, 2001. The government was formed by the United Democratic Forces, an electoral alliance led by the Union of Democratic Forces, after they won a landslide victory in the 1997 parliamentary election winning 49.15% of the votes and 137 seats in the National Assembly. The cabinet was chaired by the UDF leader Ivan Kostov who shared the cabinet posts between his party and his allies. This was the largest margin of victory since the end of communism in 1990, to this day. Kostov's government was the first since 1990 to serve its entire four-year mandate.
Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 5 October 2014 to elect the 43rd National Assembly. GERB remained the largest party, winning 84 of the 240 seats with around a third of the vote. A total of eight parties won seats, the first time since the beginning of democratic elections in 1990 that more than seven parties entered parliament. Boyko Borisov then became prime minister as head of a coalition with the Reformist Bloc and with outside support from the Patriotic Front and the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival.
The eighty-sixth Cabinet of Bulgaria was a caretaker technocratic government set up by President Petar Stoyanov following the resignation of the Videnov government. The government, headed by Prime Minister Stefan Sofiyanski, ruled from February 12, 1997 to May 21, 1997, when the new cabinet took office.
The eighty-fourth Cabinet of Bulgaria was a caretaker technocratic government set up by President Zhelyu Zhelev following the resignation of the Berov government. The government, headed by Prime Minister Reneta Indzhova, ruled from 17 October 1994 to 25 January 1995 at which time the new cabinet took office.
Nikolay Kirilov Dobrev was a Bulgarian politician who served as Minister of the Interior of Bulgaria between 10 May 1996 and 12 February 1997.
The Left Union for a Clean and Holy Republic was a Bulgarian left-wing nationalist electoral alliance which ran in the July 2021 Bulgarian parliamentary election.
