Today, March 17, at 5:00 pm is the deadline for the registration of candidate lists for the upcoming 19 April early parliamentary elections.
Most lists have already been made public. We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (WCC-DB) have yet to register theirs but have stated that they remain open to participants from the protests. The lists have been drawn up on a quota basis, with each party within the coalition conducting its own internal selection.
Venko Sabrutev of “We Continue the Change”:
"Young students, young doctors, and the Generation Z cohort are extremely well represented. People with disabilities are also strongly represented, because we cannot speak about them without ensuring they are included on the lists. This is our renewed list. We have a clear framework, populated with specific names, and this framework will be submitted to the Central Electoral Commission today."
President Rumen Radev (2017–2026) and the “Progressive Bulgaria” coalition are banking on former caretaker ministers, legendary athletes, lawyers, architects, doctors, and academics in their candidate lists.
Ivan Demerdzhiev: ‘We Are Not Players, We Are People Committed to a Cause’
Ivan Demerdzhiev, head of the Progressive Bulgaria lists, said:
"I believe that this process around the elections will give the party an opportunity to establish itself on solid foundations. It will allow us to observe how people can work, manage processes, take responsibility, and I believe this will provide a very strong base for building the party after the elections."
BNT: “So, there’s currently no core?”
Demerdzhiev: “There is a core, but not yet a party. These are two very different things. Imagine the core as a block of stone from which a sculpture has to be carved. There is no sculpture yet, only the stone.”
Rumen Radev heads the coalition list in Sofia’s 25th Multi-Member Constituency (MMC), which is shaping up as the main arena for the leadership contest.
GERB leader Boyko Borisov will, as is customary, lead two lists – in Sofia’s 25th MMC and in Bulgaria's second largest city of Plovdiv. In these constituencies, Vazrazhdane’s list is led by Kostadin Kostadinov, while MECh’s (Morality, Unity, Honour) list is headed by Radostin Vasilev.
Boyko Borisov, leader of GERB:
"I just want you to explain how this decision was reached, to avoid any speculation on the matter."
Zhivko Todorov, mayor of Stara Zagora, replied:
"The truth is that we discussed this with you even before the decision was made. We agreed that it was not appropriate for mayors to appear on the lists at this moment, because it would be difficult to explain to the public."
Dimitar Nikolov, mayor of Burgas, added:
"There are major challenges, and the economic situation varies across every region of the country. It is more personal and more engaging this way, and we will propose concrete initiatives that should lead GERB’s policies, and that is how it should be."
Delyan Peevski, leader of Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) will head the lists in Blagoevgrad and Kardzhali. Krum Zarkov, leader of Bulgarina Socialist Party (BSP), will lead the socialists list in Sofia’s 24th Multi-Member Constituency (MMC).
Two former regular-term prime ministers are entering the race: Rosen Zhelyazkov for GERB-UDF in Blagoevgrad, while Nikolay Denkov is expected to lead the WCC-DB lists in both Blagoevgrad and the 23rd MMC.
Tomorrow, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) will draw the ballot numbers that parties and coalitions will use for the 19 April elections.
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