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Bulgaria: Bulgaria Government Profile

2010/07/07

 

 

 

Bulgaria Government Profile

The constitution of 1947 established Bulgaria as a Communist national. In 1990 the constitution was amended and the Communist party lost its monopoly on political power. A new constitution, which established Bulgaria as a parliamentary democracy, was ratified in 1991.

The constitution of 1991 provides for a single-chamber legislature, the National Assembly. The 240 members of the Assembly are elected for-year terms. The president is chief of national and is elected by popular vote for a-year term. He acts as the commander in chief of the armed forces and holds legal and administrative duties. The prime minister, who is the chief of government, is elected by the party with the majority of seats in the Assembly. The prime minister heads the Council of Ministers, a cabinet, which helps him carry out the daily operations of the country.

Amount Bulgarians who are aged 18 years or additional may vote.

There are 100 administrative regions in Bulgaria, each governed by a popularly elected official. There as well exist some 1,100 urban and rural communities, each of which is governed by an official appointed by an elected people's council.

Bulgaria’s highest court is the High Judicial Council, which consists of 11 members appointed by the National Assembly, 11 appointed by other judicial authorities, and 3 appointed by the president. The lower courts of Bulgaria include a Supreme Court of Appeals; a Supreme Administrative Court; and regional, district, and appeals courts. The military has its own individual court.

Bulgaria’s defense forces consist of a regular army, an air force, and a navy, and amount men who are 18 years old or additional may be recruited to serve for a period of 18 months.

Government type: 

parliamentary democracy

Administrative divisions: 

28 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Dobrich, Gabrovo, Khaskovo, Kurdzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Shumen, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofiya, Sofiya-Grad (Sofia City), Stara Zagora, Turgovishte, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Yambol

Independence: 

3 March 1878 (as an autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire); 22 September 1908 (complete independence from the Ottoman Empire)

National holiday: 

Liberation Day, 3 March (1878)

Constitution: 

adopted on 12 July 1991

Legal system: 

civil and criminal law based on Roman law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

Suffrage: 

18 years of age; universal

Legislative branch: 

unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie (240 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held on 5 July 2009 (next to be held in mid-2013) election results: percent of vote by party - GERB 39.7%, BSP 17.7%, MRF 14.4%, ATAKA 9.4%, Blue Coalition 6.8%, RZS 4.1%, other 7.9%; seats by party - GERB 117, BSP 40, MRF 37, ATAKA 21, Blue Coalition 15, RZS 8, independents 2

Judicial branch: 

independent judiciary comprised of judges, prosecutors and investigating magistrates who are appointed, promoted, demoted, and dismissed by a 25-member Supreme Judicial Council (consists of the chairmen of the two Supreme Courts, the Chief Prosecutor, and 22 members, half of whom are elected by the National Assembly and the other half by the bodies of the judiciary for a 5-year term in office); three levels of case review; 182 courts of which two Supreme Courts act as the last instance on civil and criminal cases (the Supreme Court of Cassation) and appeals of government decisions (the Supreme Administrative Court)

Political parties and leaders : 

Agrarian National Union or ANU [Stefan LICHEV]; ATAKA (Attack party) [Volen SIDEROV]; Blue Coalition [Ivan KOSTOV and Martin DIMITROV] (a coalition of center-right parties dominated by UDF and DSB); Bulgarian New Democracy [Borislav RALCHEV]; Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP [Sergei STANISHEV]; Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria or GERB [Boyko BORISSOV]; Coalition for Bulgaria or CfB [Sergei STANISHEV] (coalition of parties dominated by BSP); Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria or DSB [Ivan KOSTOV]; Gergyovden [Petar STOYANOVICH]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization or IMRO [Krasimir KARAKACHANOV]; Liberal Initiative for Democratic European Development or LIDER [Khristo KOVACHKI]; Movement for Rights and Freedoms or MRF [Ahmed DOGAN]; National Movement for Stability and Progress or NDSV [Hristina HRISTOVA] (formerly National Movement Simeon II or NMS2); New Time [Emil KOSHLUKOV]; Order, Law, Justice or RZS [Yane YANEV]; Union of Democratic Forces or UDF [Martin DIMITROV]; Union of Free Democrats or UFD [Stefan SOFIYANSKI]; United Agrarians [Anastasia MOZER]

Political pressure groups and leaders: 

Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria or CITUB; Podkrepa Labor Confederation other: numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas

International organization participation: 

ACCT, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Flag description: 

three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; the pan-Slavic white-blue-red colors were modified by substituting a green band (representing freedom) for the blue note: the national emblem, formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe, has been removed

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