Parliamentary elections were held in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
on 5 October 2014 to elect the 43rd
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
.
GERB
GERB ( bg, ГЕРБ, translation=coat of arms, acronym for Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) is a conservative, populist political party which was the ruling party of Bulgaria between 2009 and 2021.
History
GERB is headed by for ...
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
The Reformist Bloc ( bg, Реформаторски блок, Reformatorski blok) was a centre-right electoral alliance in Bulgaria.
History
The coalition agreement to form the alliance was signed on 20 December 2013. The five parties that signe ...
and with outside support from the Patriotic Front and the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival.
Background
After the
2013 election, the seat distribution was such that the new
coalition government
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
, composed of the
Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the
Movement for Rights and Freedoms
The Movement for Rights and Freedoms ( bg, Движение за права и свободи ''Dvizhenie za prava i svobodi'', ДПС, DPS; tr, Hak ve Özgürlükler Hareketi, HÖH) is a centrist political party in Bulgaria with a support base ...
(DPS) and led by
Plamen Oresharski
Plamen Vasilev Oresharski ( bg, Пламен Василев Орешарски ; born 21 February 1960) is a Bulgarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2013 to 2014. Previously Oresharski was Minister of Finance from 2005 ...
, had only half the seats in Parliament, and thus prospects of holding early elections were significant. Also, the Oresharski cabinet was confronted by a
series of protests starting on 14 June 2013, in response to the election of
Delyan Peevski
Delyan Slavchev Peevski ( bg, Делян Славчев Пеевски ) (born 27 July 1980) is a Bulgarian politician, oligarch, entrepreneur and media mogul. He served as MP from the parliamentary group of the DPS in the 41st, 42nd, 43rd an ...
as head of the Bulgarian state security agency
DANS (State Agency for National Security).
[Bulgarians protests over media magnate as security chief](_blank)
Reuters, 14 June 2013[Protester says things could change for better (video)]
, bgnes, 14 June 2013
Following the setback suffered by the BSP in the
European Parliament election
Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's.
Unti ...
- having picked up 18.94% of the popular vote (down from 26.6% in 2013) - opposition parties called for early parliamentary elections. The leader of the DPS expressed his desire to have the government resign so that early elections can be scheduled for the end of 2014 or the middle of 2015.
On 10 June 2014 the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, Sergei Stanishev, demanded the resignation of the government: "We cannot have the responsibility for the existence and actions of this government solely by ourselves."
Following an agreement from the three largest parties (GERB, BSP and DPS) to hold early parliamentary elections for 5 October 2014, the cabinet was to resign by the end of July.
On Wednesday July 23, Oresharski's government submitted its resignation. The next day parliament voted 180–8 (8 abstained and 44 were absent) to accept the government's resignation. After each party refused to try to form a new government, on 6 August a
caretaker government
A caretaker government 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 usually consists of either randomly se ...
led by
Georgi Bliznashki
Georgi Petkov Bliznashki ( bg, Георги Петков Близнашки; born 4 October 1956) is a Bulgarian politician and a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He was a member of the Coalition for Bulgaria, part of the Party ...
was sworn into office and the 42nd National Assembly was dissolved with an election date set for 5 October.
Campaign
Twenty-two parties and seven coalitions registered to run on election day before the deadline. Two parties were denied registration.
The election campaign started on 5 September.
Opinion polls
Pre election campaign
Election campaign
Results
Reactions
Following his party's election victory, Borisov stated that his party would try to form the next government and that he "want
to govern, in person".
Government formation
The newly elected Assembly met for the first time on 27 October.
After being tasked by President
Rosen Plevneliev
Rosen Asenov Plevneliev ( bg, Росен Асенов Плевнелиев ; born 14 May 1964) is a Bulgarian politician who was the 4th President of Bulgaria, holding the position from January 2012 to January 2017. He was the Minister of Region ...
to form a government, Borisov's GERB allied with the Reformist Bloc to form a government and also had the outside support of the Patriotic Front and the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival. The cabinet of twenty ministers was approved by a majority of 136-97 (with one abstention). Borisov was then chosen as prime minister by an even larger vote of 149-85.
References
{{Bulgarian elections
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
Parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
Parliamentary elections in Bulgaria