Dimitar Iliev Popov (Pokriva) ( bg, Димитър Илиев Попов ; 26 June 1927 – 5 December 2015) was a leading Bulgarian judge and the first

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

of the country not to be a member of the

Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; bg, Българска Комунистическа Партия (БКП), Balgarska komunisticheska partiya (BKP)) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 198 ...

since 1946. He was also the first Prime Minister since 1944 who was not a Communist or a fellow traveler. Popov, who did not have any party affiliation and was chosen for his perceived impartiality as a member of the judiciary, was selected to head the new government after the resignation of

Andrey Lukanov Andrey Karlov Lukanov ( ) (26 September 1938 – 2 October 1996) was a Bulgarian politician. Between February and November 1990, was the final Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bulgaria. Biography Early life Lukanov was born in Moscow, ...

in December 1990 in the face of mass demonstrations and a

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...

. As Prime Minister, Popov oversaw the drafting of the new

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

as well as the

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

open elections. Although overseeing the beginnings of the policy of

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

, Popov's government was more of a caretaker administration. Popov died at the age of 88 on December 5, 2015.

References

1927 births 2015 deaths People from Kula, Bulgaria Prime Ministers of Bulgaria Bulgarian judges Judiciary of Bulgaria {{Bulgaria-law-bio-stub