Diana Kovacheva elected as Bulgaria’s national ombudsman

Bulgaria’s Parliament on May 20 elected Diana Kovacheva as national ombudsman with 173 votes in favour, none against and three abstentions.

She was the only candidate for the post and has been in office since September, after former national ombudsperson Maya Manolova resigned in order to run in the local government elections.

According to GERB party, Diana Kovacheva has the necessary qualities to be a successful ombudsman.

The opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party also gave its support and stated that Kovacheva's work has so far shown a striving to be beyond politics and expertise in solving problems. They emphasized that they will count on her to continue the fight against monopolies.

Kovacheva thanked the MPs for the trust, pointed out that she knows the work, which is not easy, but it is worth every effort. The ambition of her team is to turn the role of the ombudsman institution from being the last hope for the people into the first reaction when rights are violated.