Presidential elections in Bulgaria

Abstract

On the 21st of November 2021, the Bulgarian electorate was again called to the polls it what may be defined as a moment of consolidation of the winds of change blowing over the Bulgarian electoral scene. With the victory of the new party “We Continue the Change” (Продължаваме промяната - Prodalzhavame promyanata) 4 in the legislative elections – the third in a row – scheduled for the same day as the presidential elections, with the GERB (ГЕРБ) party being defeated, president Rumen Radev (Румен Радев) which ran as an independent although supported by “We Continue the Change” was reelected, being able to ensure, on the presidential side of power, the stability won by this party. In the second round of the elections, the “new opposition” GERB and the Union of Democratic Forces (Съюз на демократичните сили - Sayuz na demokratichnite sili) supported the independent candidate Anastas Gerdjikov (Анастас Герджиков), a professor at the University of Sofia. This brief analysis of the presidential electoral system and the following election results is relevant as Radev’s victory granted the president a second and last presidential mandate, while a hypothetic victory of Gerdjikov would potentially moderate the reformist impulses of the new government.