We Continue the Change ( bg, Продължаваме промяната, Prodalzhavame promyanata; PP), sometimes translated as Change Continues, is a
centrist
Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...
,
anti-corruption
Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive measu ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
and an
electoral alliance
An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political party, political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand ...
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 ...
led by
Kiril Petkov
Kiril Petkov Petkov ( bg, Кирил Петков Петков; born 17 April 1980) is a Bulgarian politician, economist, and entrepreneur, who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from December 2021 to August 2022. He is the co-leader of We ...
and
Asen Vasilev
Asen Vaskov Vasilev ( bg, Асен Васков Василев; born 9 September 1977) is a Bulgarian politician, economist, and entrepreneur who is the current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance since 13 December 2021. He is the co-l ...
,
the former caretaker Economy and Finance Ministers, respectively. It competed in the
November 2021 Bulgarian National Assembly election, coming in first place with 67 seats. It was given the mandate to form a government on 13 December 2021, and formed a broad coalition between
BSP for Bulgaria
The BSP for Bulgaria ( bg, БСП за България, BSP za Bŭlgariya), or the Coalition for Bulgaria ( bg, Коалиция за България, Koalitsiya za Bŭlgariya) until 2017, is a left-wing electoral alliance in Bulgaria led by t ...
,
There Is Such a People and
Democratic Bulgaria
Democratic Bulgaria ( bg, Демократична България, ДБ, ''Demokratichna Balgariya, DB'') is an electoral alliance in Bulgaria formed by three political parties – Yes, Bulgaria!, Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria and The Greens. ...
.
History
The party was officially launched on 19 September 2021, after a month-long speculation about its creation. It was created to be an alternative anti-corruption party that could be seen as a "uniting force" between the other parties. Since the coalition was created too late to have its own registration, it has to compete in the elections with the registration of one or more of its member parties. This has been done through
Volt Bulgaria and
Middle European Class, with the former being a party that recently left the parliamentary coalition
IBG-NI.
The party favoured working with the anti-establishment parties, but it has said there is speculation that it will work with
BSP for Bulgaria
The BSP for Bulgaria ( bg, БСП за България, BSP za Bŭlgariya), or the Coalition for Bulgaria ( bg, Коалиция за България, Koalitsiya za Bŭlgariya) until 2017, is a left-wing electoral alliance in Bulgaria led by t ...
to form a coalition. It had also not ruled out the possibility of working with
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 ...
-
SDS or
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), but
Kiril Petkov
Kiril Petkov Petkov ( bg, Кирил Петков Петков; born 17 April 1980) is a Bulgarian politician, economist, and entrepreneur, who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from December 2021 to August 2022. He is the co-leader of We ...
has said that DPS must break contact and drop support of ex-MP
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 ...
, and GERB must support the replacement of Chief Prosecutor
Ivan Geshev
Ivan Stoimenov Geshev ( bg, Иван Стоименов Гешев) is a Bulgarian jurist serving as Bulgaria's Chief Public Prosecutor since 26 November 2019. Geshev previously served as Head of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office (July 2016-Jul ...
, in order to be considered as potential coalition partners. A new movement, the party announced that it would not create a pre-electoral agreement with the other anti-establishment parties, but there was a signed agreement of cooperation following the
November election.
In the November election, the party came out on top with over 25% of the vote, and it negotiated a coalition with the anti-establishment parties ITN and DB, alongside the leftist BSP. The government, led by Kiril Petkov, set out to remove corruption within the country and counter the problems faced by Bulgaria, including the energy crisis and COVID-19 pandemic.
On 15 April, Petkov and Vasilev registered their party We Continue the Change.
Ideology and platform
We Continue the Change is a centrist political party, which focuses on rooting out corruption. Economically, the main goals of the coalition are to create a favourable economic and administrative environment for the free development of small and medium-sized businesses and to attract strategic high-tech investments. On a more political level, they seek to stop corruption and misuse of state funds as well as uphold the rule of law. Priority for government formation is the access to quality education and healthcare for all Bulgarian citizens, modern infrastructure. They also stress social policy, in particular improving pensions for retired people.
For the
2021 presidential election, Petkov and Vasilev declared their support for the incumbent President
Rumen Radev
Rumen Georgiev Radev ( bg, Румен Георгиев Радев ; born 18 June 1963) is a Bulgarian politician and former major general who is the current president of Bulgaria since 22 January 2017.
Radev previously served as higher command ...
. For the 2021 parliamentary elections, the coalition campaigned on a vague platform to attract voters of different persuasions, with particular emphasis on the corruption of the former government of Boyko Borisov. Kiril Petkov and Asen Vasilev, both businessmen, were seen as pro-business and advocated anchoring Bulgaria in the European Union and NATO.
Organization
PP has two leaders,
Kiril Petkov
Kiril Petkov Petkov ( bg, Кирил Петков Петков; born 17 April 1980) is a Bulgarian politician, economist, and entrepreneur, who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from December 2021 to August 2022. He is the co-leader of We ...
and
Asen Vasilev
Asen Vaskov Vasilev ( bg, Асен Васков Василев; born 9 September 1977) is a Bulgarian politician, economist, and entrepreneur who is the current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance since 13 December 2021. He is the co-l ...
.
The main part of the coalition is "We Continue the Change" itself. There are two smaller "mandate carrier" parties,
Volt Bulgaria, and
Middle European Class (SEC), which have surrendered their party lists up to the coalition to be used at election.
Composition
Former members
The following parties were part of the electoral coalition only during the November 2021 election.
Election results
The coalition took part in the
November 2021 Bulgarian election, coming in first place with 25.67% of the vote and 67 seats. At the election, the coalition won 67 seats. 4 went to
SEC and 2 seats were won by
Volt
The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827).
Defi ...
. The main 'We Continue the Change' party won the rest of the seats. In 2022, the electoral coalition dropped down to second place behind
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 ...
, with 53 seats overall.
National Assembly
References
{{Bulgarian political parties
2021 establishments in Bulgaria
2022 establishments in Bulgaria
Anti-corruption parties
Liberal parties in Bulgaria
Political parties established in 2021
Political parties established in 2022
Political party alliances in Bulgaria