First plenary day ended, Parliament failed to elect Its Speaker

The new Bulgarian Parliament on April 12 failed to elect a Speaker on first attempt.

The presiding MP of the first sitting of the 49th Parliament, Vezhdi Rashidov of GERB-UDF, closed the first day of work of the new Parliament without having elected a Speaker.

This happened after the end of the recess, in which the MPs came out after failing to elect a speaker at the first attempt.

Earlier today, the Parliament did not approve either of the two nominees for Speaker of the National Assembly. Rosen Zhelyazkov of GERB-UDF and Petar Petrov of Vazrazhdane. The candidate of "Vazrazhdane" Petar Petrov received 37 votes in favour, 88 against and 39 abstentions. Rosen Zhelyazkov, nominated by GERB-UDF, received 79 votes in favour, 8 against and 144 abstentions.

Assen Vassilev of “We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria” proposed that a rotating Speaker be elected.