At stake in this election:

• 240 seats in Bulgaria’s National Assembly (Narodno Sabranie)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Rosen PLEVNELIEV (since 22 January 2012)[i]
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Georgi BLIZNASHKI (since 6 August 2014)*
• 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.
• 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.**

** Bulgaria is divided into 31 multi-member districts, with each district having between 4 and 16 representatives based on population. Political parties and coalitions must receive at least 4 percent of valid votes at the national level to receive a seat.[ii]

Election Note:

*On 6 August 2014, Georgi BLIZNASHKi was appointed to serve as a caretaker Prime Minister until the Sunday 5 October 2014 National Assembly elections. Previously, Plamen ORESHARSKI was Prime Minister when the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) made a coalition government following the May 2013 elections.[iii] However, Mr. ORESHARSKI resigned from office.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) / Grazhdani za evropeysko razvitie na Balgariya
  • Leader: Boyko BORISOV
  • Seats won in last election: 97
• Party: Bulgarian Socialist Party / Bulgarska sotsialisticheska partiya (BSP)
  • Leader: Mihail MIKOV
  • Seats won in last election: 84
• Party: Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) / Dvizhenie za prava i svobodi
  • Leader: Lyutvi MESTAN
  • Seats won in last election: 36
• Party: Attack / Ataka
  • Leader: Volen SIDEROV
  • Seats won in last election: 23
• Party: The National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria / Natzionalen Front za Spasenie na Bulgaria
  • Leader: Valeri SIMEONOV, Valentin KASABOV, DANCHO HADZHIEV
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Bulgaria for Citizens / Bulgariya na grazhdanite
  • Leader: Meglena KUNEVA
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Order, Law and Justice (RZS) / Red, zakonnost i spravedlivost
  • Leader: Yane YANEV
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Bulgaria Without Citizenship
  • Leader: Nikolay BAREKOV
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Alternative for Bulgarian Revival
  • Leader: Georgi PARVANOV
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Coalition: Reformist Bloc (RB)
  • Leader: Vacant
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Coalition: Patriot Front
  • Leader: Krasmir KARAKACHANOV & Valeri SIMEONOV (spokespersons)
  • Seats won in last election: N/A

Last election:

• The last election to the National Assembly in Bulgaria was held on 12 May 2013.[iv] Turnout was 51 percent with 3,631,792 of 6,919,260 people casting ballots.[v] While Mr. BORISOV’s Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) won 97 seats, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) led by Sergei STANISHEV won 84 seats and formed a governing coalition with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS).[vi] Results can be found here.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 6,924,716 (July 2014 est.)[vii]
• Registered Voters: 6,931,855 (September 2014)[viii]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 3,614,704 (July 2014 est)[i]
• Is Bulgaria a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (since 1980) [ii]
• Has Bulgaria ratified CEDAW: Yes (in 1982) [iii]
• Gender Quota: No Law.
• Female Candidates in this election: N/A
• Number of Female Legislators: 59 (24.6%) of 240 seats in the National Assembly (May 2013)[iv]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 58[v]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Ranking: Not Ranked (latest rankings are from 2012)