General elections were held in Bulgaria on 14 November 2021 to elect both the president and the National Assembly. They were the country's third parliamentary elections in 2021, with no party able to form a government after the elections in April and July. A second round of the presidential elections were held on 21 November 2021 as no candidate was able to receive a majority of the vote in the first round.
We Continue the Change won the most seats, although it was not a majority. Shortly after the election, they announced that coalition talks were going to be held. Incumbent president Rumen Radev gathered 66.72% of the vote, defeating university professor Anastas Gerdzhikov in a runoff.
Nationwide turnout in the parliamentary and first presidential round fell to 40%, Bulgaria's lowest participation rate in 30 years for both presidential and legislative elections. Nationwide turnout in the second presidential round experienced another drop, featuring only 35% of registered voters.
The leaders of PP, BSP, ITN and DB announced on 10 December that they had agreed to form a coalition that would end a months-long political crisis. President Radev shortly after announced that he had given the mandate to form a government to Petkov. On 12 December, Kiril Petkov presented the composition of the incoming government, and it was approved on 13 December by the National Assembly.
Background
The previous parliamentary election which was held in July 2021, resulted in a narrow victory for the newly established There Is Such A People (ITN) over the ruling GERB party; however, ITN won only 65 out of 240 seats in the National Assembly of Bulgaria. Following the elections, ITN opted to try and form a minority government and started talks with potential partners (DB, IBG-NI, and BSP) in order to secure their support. Nevertheless, these attempts proved unsuccessful, and ITN announced on 10 August that they were withdrawing their proposed cabinet, making a third election more likely. Slavi Trifonov, the leader of ITN, said in a video statement that this meant new elections. The mandate to form a cabinet went to GERB.
GERB, the party of the previous prime minister Boyko Borisov, said earlier that it would not try to form a government. The BSP said that if the scenario repeats itself, it would suggest that the incumbent caretaker cabinet becomes permanent. IBG-NI also expressed confidence that it could come up with a solution if handed the mandate to form a government. Trifonov subsequently announced that he would not support any other parties proposing a cabinet. Parliament announced on 2 September that Bulgaria would hold the first round of the presidential election on 14 November, with a snap election likely to take place in the same month.
On 6 September 2021, BSP handed back the last mandate of forming a government, meaning the parliament would be dissolved and a third parliamentary election would officially take place in 2021. President Rumen Radev declared on 11 September that there would be two-in-one elections on 14 November for the first time in Bulgarian history, where voters would be able to vote on the president and the parliament. This decision was taken "to save treasury costs and voters' time".
Electoral system The 240 members of the National Assembly were elected by open list proportional representation from 31 multi-member constituencies ranging in size from 4 to 16 seats. The electoral threshold is 4% for parties, with seats allocated according to the largest remainder method.Bulgaria IFESElectoral system for national legislature – Bulgaria IDEA
The President of Bulgaria is elected using the two-round system,Bulgaria IFES with voters also given a none of the above option.Bulgaria’s 2016 presidential elections: Voters to have ‘I don’t support anyone’ option Sofia Glove, 9 October 2016
Parties and coalitions Parliamentary parties PartyMain ideologyLeader(s)Current seatsITNPopulismSlavi TrifonovGERB–SDSConservatismBoyko BorisovBSPzBSocial democracyKorneliya NinovaDBLiberalismHristo IvanovDPS Turkish minority interestsMustafa KaradayiIBG-NIPopulismMaya Manolova
Parties admitted to the elections When only some of the leaders of a coalition are its official representatives, their names are in bold. All lines with a light grey background indicate support for a party or coalition that has been agreed upon outside of the official CEC electoral registration.
Name № Main ideology Leader(s) July 2021 result Votes(%) Seats RVO VО Revival of the Fatherland 2Left-wing nationalism Nikolay Malinov 0.37%(LSChSR) NS New ForceBulgarian nationalism Atanas Sirakov NDLO National Movement for a Left Unification Socialism Boyan DurankevMarian DimitrovTimur Glozhenski LA Left AlternativeSocialism Ivan Atanasov Patriotic Front NFSB National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria 4 Bulgarian nationalism Valeri Simeonov 3.10%(BP) BDSRBulgarian Democratic Union "Radicals"Conservatism Tsvetan Manchev BNDS Entire BulgariaAgrarianism Georgi Valchev Revival Revival 5 Ultranationalism Kostadin Kostadinov 2.97% NOD KOD Conservative Union of the Right 7Conservatism Petar Moskov 0.28% BZNS Bulgarian Agrarian National UnionAgrarianism Nikolay Nenchev BDF Bulgarian Democratic ForumBulgarian nationalism Zhaklin Toleva RzB Republicans for BulgariaConservatism Tsvetan Tsvetanov0.31% BSDD Bulgarian Union for Direct Democracy 8 Direct democracy Georgi Nedelchev – BSDE Bulgarian Social Democratic Party – EuroLeft 10 Social democracy Aleksandar Tomov – Ataka Attack 11 Bulgarian nationalism Volen Siderov 0.45% ONB Society for a New Bulgaria 13 Bulgarian nationalism Kalin Krulev – GN People's Voice 14 Populism Svetoslav Vitkov 0.17% DPS Movement for Rights and Freedoms 17 Turkish minority interests Mustafa Karadayi 10.57% Pravoto Rights, Reforms, Alternative, Opportunities,Responsibility, Tolerance and Unity 20 Populism Maria Koleva – VMRO–BND VMRO – Bulgarian National Movement 21 National conservatism Krasimir Karakachanov 3.10%(BP) BNO Bulgarian National Unification 22 Bulgarian nationalism Georgi Georgiev-Goti – Volya Volya Movement 23Right-wing populism Veselin Mareshki 3.10%(BP) ITN There Is Such a People 24 Populism Slavi Trifonov 23.78% We Continuethe Change PPWe Continue the Change 25Anti-corruption Kiril Petkov New VoltVolt BulgariaEuropean federalism Nastimir Ananiev – SECMiddle European ClassPro-Europeanism Georgi Manev PDSPolitical Movement "Social Democrats"Social democracy Elena Noneva MIR Morality, Initiative and Patriotism 26 Conservatism Simeon Slavchev0.12% BOG Prosperity-Unity-Construction 27 Nationalism Ivan Gaberov – BNS–ND Bulgarian National Union – New Democracy 28 Anti-immigration Boris IvanovBogdan Yotsov 0.17% PD Direct Democracy 29 Direct democracy Petar Klisarov 0.11% DemocraticBulgaria DBYes, Bulgaria! 30Liberalism Hristo Ivanov 9.31% DSBDemocrats for a Strong BulgariaConservative liberalism Atanas Atanasov ZD Green Movement Green politics Borislav SandovVladislav Panev DENDignity of a United PeopleLiberalism Naiden Zelenogorski Stand Up.BG!We are coming! D21Movement 21 31Social democracy Tatyana Doncheva 4.95% DBGBulgaria for Citizens MovementLiberal conservatism Dimitar Delchev ENPUnited People's PartyLiberalismValentina Vasileva-Filadelfevs ZNSAgrarian People's UnionAgrarianism Rumen Yonchev IS.BG Stand Up.BGAnti-corruption Maya Manolova OT Poisonous Trio and CitizensDirect democracy Nikolay Hadjigenov GERB – SDS GERB GERB 32Conservatism Boyko Borisov 23.21% SDS Union of Democratic ForcesConservatism Rumen Hristov DG George's Day MovementConservatism Dragomir Stefanov BSP forBulgaria BSP Bulgarian Socialist Party 33Social democracy Korneliya Ninova 14.78% NZNew DawnLeft-wing nationalism Mincho Minchev CPB Communist Party of BulgariaCommunism Aleksandar Paunov – EcoglasnostGreen politics Emil Georgiev TrakiyaTrakiya Political ClubBulgarian nationalism Stefan Nachev ABVAlternative for Bulgarian RevivalSocial democracy Rumen Petkov BLBulgarian LeftDemocratic socialism Boyan Kirov BPBulgarian SpringSocial democracy Velizar Enchev DSHMovement for Social HumanismProgressivism Alexander Radoslavov DNK Movement of Independent Candidates Left-wing populismBoyko MladenovBoyko NikiforovMincho KuminevOgnyan Boyukliev NS People's ForceLeft-wing nationalism Georgi Dimov ND Normal State– Georgi Kadiev OKZNI All-People's Committee for the Protection of National Interests– – SENKO Council of the European Scientific and Cultural Community– – SO Union for the Fatherland– Vasil Tochkov FPB Federation of Consumers in BulgariaConsumer interests Emil Georgiev ND ZSCD For Social and Civic Development– Mladen Ivanov NSZ National Syndicate "Protection"– Krasimir Mitov OBT United Bloc of LabourSocial democracy Ekaterina Atanasova BPL Bulgarian Progressive Line 34 Democratic socialism Krassimir Yankov 0.37%(LSChSR) Greens Green Party 35 Green politics Vladimir Nikolov 0.12% Brigada Brigade 36 – Arben Khavalyov 0.08%
Presidential candidates
Candidates admitted to the elections Name Running mate Parties or coalitions supporting the campaign № SourcesYolo DenevPolitician and writerMario Filev–1Nikolay MalinovChairman of the party Russophiles for the Revival of the FatherlandSvetlana KosevaRussophiles for the Revival of the Fatherland2Rosen MilenovFormer national security officerIvan Ivanov–3Valeri SimeonovChairman of the party National Front for the Salvation of BulgariaTsvetan MancevNFSB, BNDS "Whole Bulgaria", Bulgarian Democratic Union "Radicals"4Kostadin KostadinovChairman of the party RevivalElena GunchevaRevival5Rumen RadevIncumbent President of BulgariaIliana IotovaITN, BSPzB, PP, IBG-NI6 Goran BlagoevPolitician and journalistIvelina GeorgievaConservative Association of the Right and Republicans for Bulgaria7Blagoy PetrevskiPoliticianSevina HadjiyskaBulgarian Union for Direct Democracy8Marina MalchevaPoliticianSavina Lukanova–9Aleksander TomovChairman of the Bulgarian Social Democratic PartyLachezar Avramov.Bulgarian Social Democratic Party–Bulgarian Euro-Left10Volen SiderovChairman of the party AttackMagdalena TashevaAttack11Boyan RasateChairman of the party Bulgarian National Union – New DemocracyElena VatashkaBNU-ND12Zhelyo ZhelevPoliticianKalin KrulevSociety for a New Bulgaria13Anastas GerdzhikovRector of Sofia UniversityNevyana MitevaGERB–SDS14Svetoslav VitkovChairman of the party People's VoiceVeselin BelokonskiPeople's Voice15Luna YordanovaSinger and television personalityIglena Ilieva–16Mustafa KaradayaChairman of the Movement for Rights and FreedomsIskra MihaylovaDPS17Tsveta KirilovaJournalist and television presenterGeorgi Tutanov–18Lozan PanovChairman of the Supreme Court of Cassation of BulgariaMaria KasimovaJustice for All Initiative and DB19Maria KolevaDirector and writerGancho PopovLaw Party20Milen MihovVice chairman of the party VMRO – Bulgarian National MovementMariya Tsvetkova.VMRO21Georgi GeorgievPoliticianStoyan TsvetkovBNO22Veselin MareshkiChairman of the party Volya MovementPolina TsankovaVolya Movement23
Campaign The campaign started after the election was officially announced for 14 November. The pandemic remained a large issue, especially with the rise of the Delta variant in the country. The anti-corruption parties (ITN, DB, and IBG-NI) were all looking to hold their ground, while the established parties (GERB, DPS, and BSP) wanted to capitalise on public frustrations with the inability to form a government. The elections were widely hoped to bring an end to the political stalemate that had lasted since the April 2021 elections, after which no government could be formed. This time, there was more pressure on the anti-establishment parties to start negotiating a coalition government after the elections.