The Chairman (President) of the Republic of the

People's Republic of Bulgaria The People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB; bg, Народна Република България (НРБ), ''Narodna Republika Balgariya, NRB'') was the official name of Bulgaria, when it was a socialist republic from 1946 to 1990, ruled by the ...

(

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

: ''Председателят (Президентът) на Републиката'') was the

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

of Bulgaria from 3 April 1990 to 22 January 1992. The office was known as the ''Chairman (President) of the People's Republic of Bulgaria'' until the word "People's" was dropped from the country's name on 15 November 1990. From that point on, the office was simply the ''Chairman (President) of the Republic of Bulgaria''.

Origin

In 1971 a new constitution was approved by a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

and came into force on 18 May 1971. In the constitution a new state organ was formed: the State Council. This new organ effectively eclipsed the role of the

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 ...

as it had both legislative and executive power. The State Council could issue decrees with full legal authority when the National Assembly was not in session, with no provision for later approval by the full legislative body. The chairman of the State Council served as ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' head of state. Following a wave of

democratization Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a ful ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

in 1989, dictator

Todor Zhivkov Todor Hristov Zhivkov ( bg, Тодор Христов Живков ; 7 September 1911 – 5 August 1998) was a Bulgarian communist statesman who served as the ''de facto'' leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) from 1954 until 1989 ...

was forced to resign on 10 November, succeeded by

Petar Mladenov Petar Toshev Mladenov ( bg, Петър Тошев Младенов; 22 August 1936 – 31 May 2000) was a Bulgarian communist diplomat and politician. He was the last leader of the Bulgarian People's Republic from 1989 to 1990, and briefly the ...

. The following month the Communist Party announced it was giving up power and began a series of round table talks with the opposition on the transition to democracy. It was decided that the State Council would have to be abolished and the office of the ''Chairman (President) of the Republic'' would have to be inaugurated.

Powers and duties

The powers and duties of the office were outlined in Chapter 5 of the 1971 constitution, as amended in 1990.

Office Holders

On 3 April 1990 Petar Mladenov, having previously served as the Chairman of the State Council, was elected as the first President of Bulgaria, serving until his resignation in July. His resignation came after a video surfaced suggesting the use of tanks against anti-government demonstration in December 1989.

Stanko Todorov Stanko Todorov Georgiev () (10 December 1920 – 17 December 1996) was a Bulgarian communist politician. Todorov was born in Pernik Province. Before and during World War II he was a worker. He became interested in communism, and joined the und ...

was selected to serve as acting President until a successor could be chosen. He too, had to be replaced by another acting president, Nikolai Todorov, following his resignation due to health reasons. Finally, on 1 August a compromise was reached and Zhelyu Zhelev, until then leader of the opposition party, the Union of Democratic Forces, was elected president. Zhelev was in office until he was sworn in on 22 January 1992 as President of Bulgaria, under the

new New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

constitution, following his direct election by the public three days before.

References

{{reflist :bg:Държавен съвет на Народна република България People's Republic of Bulgaria Bulgarian politicians Government of Bulgaria Heads of state of Bulgaria