At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Bulgaria

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Georgi PARVANOV
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Sergei STANISHEV
• Assembly: Bulgaria has a unicameral National Assembly (Narodno Sabranie) with 240 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is elected by parliament.
• In the National Assembly (Narodno Sabranie) 240 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** There are 31 multi-member districts in the list tier. There is a national threshold of 4 percent. Each MMD is also a single-member district in the nominal tier. Each voter gets two votes. Candidates in the list tier may stand in a maximum of two districts. Candidates in the nominal tier may stand in one district only.

Main Candidates in the Second Round of the Presidential race:

• Georgi PARVANOV
  • Party: Independent Candidate
• Volen SIDEROV
  • Party: Ataka Party

Main Candidates in the First Round of the Presidential race:

• Georgi PARVANOV*
  • Party: Independent Candidate
• Volen SIDEROV
  • Party: Ataka Party
• Nedelcho BERONOV***
  • Party: Independent Candidate
• Georgi MARKOV
  • Party: Order, Law, and Justice Party / (OLJ)
• Petar BERON*****
  • Party: Independent Candidate
• Grigor VELEV
  • Party: Union of the Bulgarian Nationalists "United Bulgaria" / "Zelokupna Bulgaria"
• Lyuben PETROV*******
  • Party: Independent Candidate

* Georgi PARVANOV is supported by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), but was nominated by ad hoc independent committee of citizens.
*** Nedelcho BERONOV is supported by several right-wing parties, including the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB). BERONOV was nominated by an ad hoc independent committee of citizens.
***** Petar BERON is supported by the Union of Patriotic Forces and Militaries of the Reserve Zashtita, but was nominated by ad hoc independent committee of citizens.
******* Lyuben PETROV is supported by the People

Population and number of registered voters

• Population: 7,699,020 (2006)
• Registered voters: 6,496,224 (2006)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 3,950,457 (2006)

·         Is Bulgaria a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Bulgaria ratified CEDAW: Yes (8 February 1982)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 50 (following the 2005 election)

·         Human Development Index Position: 59 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Bulgaria a signatory to CRPD: Yes (27 September 2007)

·         Has Bulgaria ratified CRPD: Yes (22 March 2012)

·         Population with a disability: 1,154,853 (est.)