Atanas Zafirov is the new chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party

Atanas Zafirov is the new chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

He was elected after a contested battle against Borislav Gutsanov, who reached the second round of voting. Both Zafirov and Gutsanov are part of the government, which has drawn criticism from some of their opponents for the position. They argue that holding leadership and participating in government should not be combined.

Another shared view expressed at the 51st Congress is that the BSP leadership position will lend sufficient weight to the policies favoured by socialists, making them part of the national government’s decision-making.

Atanas Zafirov is a Deputy Prime Minister without a portfolio in the government of Rosen Zhelyazkov and has served as the BSP chairman since last year.

Zafirov won the leadership post in a contested race with Borislav Gutsanov. In the first round, the difference between the two was just 14 votes. In the second-round of voting, the difference increased to 57 votes. These results are according to official data.

"From today, BSP will be different. It will be a collective party, with the chairman as first among equals. I thanked all my opponents. I believe the election campaign showed that BSP is alive, changed, democratic, and ideological," said Atanas Zafirov.

Here’s what happened at the BSP Congress held on February 16.

Many of the delegates who on Feruary 15 canceled the direct vote for the chairman’s election were convinced that returning to the tradition, where the leader is elected by Congress (as was the case until 2017), is better.

"I think it will be good for the party. We are putting an end to the leadership that detaches itself from the ground and the surrounding party structures. The party is returning to the working regime of years past, meaning we elect a chairman of the National Assembly — first among equals," said Kiril Dobrev, a delegate at the Congress.

"I think that at this point it is good. Direct voting is hard to organise and showed many flaws last time," added Valeri Zhablyanov, another delegate of the Congress.

Borislav Gutsanov described as positive the Congress’s decision to keep the two-term limit for the party leader and local chairmen, as well as the 12-year limit for Members of Parliament.

"The mandates for both party bodies and MPs remained, showing that BSP is displaying wisdom and understands that care must be taken when making certain changes because one change influences many other processes in the organizational plan," said Borislav Gutsanov, BSP chairman candidate.

According to Pargov, it will not be good for BSP if people from the executive and legislative branches head the party. He explained why.

"The party’s agenda will be dictated by the cabinet’s agenda. I firmly believe that there must be a separation of powers at this moment, meaning some should be at ‘Positano’ (Headquarters & National Council offices of the BSP) working for the party, others in the executive branch, and others in the legislative branch. This is a common team with different tasks," commented Kaloyan Pargov, BSP chairman candidate.

"Let the election pass, and then each one can decide what they should do. This is a complicated government with a complex party configuration, but it could also be a positive element because each party defends its views, and in a dialogic mode, it will have a positive effect on the country’s development," added Borislav Gutsanov.

The start of voting for the party's chairman and a new National Council was postponed twice - first last night because of the late printing of ballot papers, then in the morning because of a mixed-up ballot paper. Voting started at 10.30 this morning.

The start of voting for the party leader and the new National Council members was postponed twice — first on February 15 due to the late printing of ballots, and then in the morning on February 16bdue to a mix-up with the ballots. Voting began at 10:30 AM on February 16.