Leadership elections within the

Bulgarian Socialist Party The Bulgarian Socialist Party ( bg, Българска социалистическа партия, translit=Balgarska sotsialisticheska partiya, BSP), also known as The Centenarian ( bg, Столетницата, links=no, translit=Stoletnitsat ...

were held on 27 July 2014 as part of the party's 48th congress, following the resignation of

Sergey Stanishev Sergey Dmitrievich Stanishev ( bg, Сергей Дмитриевич Станишев ; born 5 May 1966) is a Bulgarian politician who is serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He previously served as President of the Party of Eu ...

earlier that month. While he made no formal endorsement, he hinted at supporting economy minister Dragomir Stoynev, who had been recently elected as party co-chairman.

Background

Following his election as party leader in 2001

was reelected in June 2002, November 2008, October 2009 and May 2012. Similar to

Georgi Parvanov Georgi Sedefchov Parvanov ( bg, Георги Седефчов Първанов, ) (born 28 June 1957) is a Bulgarian historian and politician who was President of Bulgaria from 2002 to 2012. He was elected after defeating incumbent Petar Sto ...

, Stanishev and the party remained in opposition to the

Sakskoburggotski Government The eighty-fifth cabinet of Bulgaria, also known 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 th ...

, despite the fact that two socialist ministers had joined it as independents. The party achieved a victory in the 2005 election and formed a

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 ...

, however due to waning popularity and accusations of corruption, it underperformed in the 2009 election and went into opposition. Following the 2013 election the BSP formed a coalition government with 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 ...

, which required support from the ultra-nationalist party

Ataka Ataka may refer to: * Attack (political party), Bulgarian nationalist political party *Ataka (play), a Japanese play used as a source for the film ''The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail'' *9M120 Ataka, a Russian-made anti-tank guided missile * Japa ...

. The government was seen as corruptThere is only one roadmap: Resignation for the government. Elections.
''

Capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

'', 19 June 2013 and figures from it were considered inappropriate. This led to

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

, culminating in the resignations of Prime Minister

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 ...

and Stanishev.

Candidates

Initially party co-chairman Yanaki Stoilov was considered a frontrunner, alongside minister Dragomir Stoynev, however, following accusations directed at Stoynev, the party establishment appeared to coalesce around Mihail Mikov. Thus, both major candidates were seen as successors to Stanishev. Candidates

Maya Manolova Maya Bozhidarova Manolova ( bg, Мая Божидарова Манолова; born 4 May 1965) is a Bulgarian politician and the leader of the political movement Stand Up.BG, part of the Stand Up! Mafia, get out! coalition. She was formerly the v ...

, Georgi Kadiev and

Korneliya Ninova Korneliya Petrova Ninova ( bg, Корнелия Петрова Нинова ) is a Bulgarian politician, MP from the parliamentary group of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). She has been the chairwoman of BSP since 8 May 2016. Biography K ...

advocated for change within the party.

Results

The 48th party congress convened on 27 July with a total of 846 listed party delegates, 744 of whom cast votes. The first round of voting took place between 16:39 and 17:30. As no candidate received a majority, Chairman of the National Assembly and former

Minister of Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

Mihail Mikov and

Minister of Economy A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

Dragomir Stoynev advanced to the second round. Members of the National Assembly Yanaki Stoilov and

placed 3rd and 4th respectively, unexpectedly surpassing Deputy Chairwoman of the National Assembly

. The second round of voting took place the same day. Mihail Mikov was elected with 53.1% of the vote, or 377 of the 710 valid votes. PredsedatelBSP

References

Sources

*{{Cite book , editor-last1=Kanev, editor-first1=Dobrin, editor-last2=Todorov , editor-first2=Antoniy , year=2014 , title=Качество на демокрацията в България, edition=1st , location=Sofia , publisher=Изток-Запад , url=http://www.book.store.bg/p130172/kachestvoto-na-demokraciata-v-bylgaria-dobrin-kanev-antonij-todorov.html , isbn=978-619-152-473-0 Bulgarian Socialist Party politicians 2014 elections in Bulgaria