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 ...

of the country not to be a member of the Bulgarian Communist Party since 1946. He was also the first Prime Minister since 1944 who was not a Communist or a

fellow traveler The term ''fellow traveller'' (also ''fellow traveler'') identifies a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member of that o ...

. 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 Mosc ...

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 coa ...

. 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 entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

as well as the second 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