The Fifty First National Assembly () is a convocation of the National Assembly of Bulgaria, formed according to the results of the snap parliamentary elections in Bulgaria, held on 27 October 2024.
Positions and Leadership
National Assembly speaker and deputy speakers
Speaker elections
The opening session of the 51st National Assembly, as per tradition, was chaired by the oldest MP, Silvi Kirilov from ITN, who had also chaired the opening session of the preceding parliament.
Five candidacies were presented for the Speakership in the first attempt to elect a speaker: former Speaker of the 50th National Assembly, Raya Nazaryan, from GERB-SDS, former minister of regional development and PP-DB MP Andrey Tsekov, Revival MP Petar Petrov, BSP MP Natalia Kiselova, and ITN MP Nikoleta Kuzmanova. During the voting, most parliamentary groups voted along party lines, with the exception of MECh and APS, who voted in support of all candidates with the exception of Nazaryan, while DPS-NN voted against all the candidates. Ultimately, Raya Nazaryan and Andrey Tsekov proceeded into a second round, in which neither candidate managed to gain the necessary support for a majority. Following the failure of the first attempt to elect a speaker, ITN representative Toshko Yordanov called for the election of the oldest MP, Silvi Kirilov, as a temporary chairman in order to enable the function of the National Assembly, as had previously occurred with the election of Vezhdi Rashidov in the 48th National Assembly.
A second attempt at electing a speaker was scheduled for 13 November. The same 5 candidates were nominated, indicating that no deal had been made between the political parties in the preceding day. All the candidates received a similar number of votes as to the first attempt, with neither Nazaryan nor Tsekov being able to gain the votes necessary for a majority.
A third attempt was undertaken on 15 November with a similar outcome, although, unlike in prior rounds, ITN nominated Silvi Kirilov (who had been chairing the proceedings as the oldest MP) and MECh changed their position from voting in favour of all non-GERB candidates to abstaining.
On 20 November, a fourth attempt to elect a speaker was undertaken. Prior to the vote, PP-DB announced that they would withdraw the candidacy of Andrey Tsekov and instead support the candidacy of Silvi Kirilov from ITN. Thus, four candidacies were initially nominated: Raya Nazaryan from GERB-SDS, Petar Petrov from Revival, Natalia Kiselova from BSP - OL and Silvi Kirilov from ITN. Presenting the candidacy of Kirilov, ITN MP, Toshko Yordanov, implied that the selection of Kirilov may also enable a change in the current Caretaker Government and allow for the operation of parliament until a stable majority is formed. In the vote for the candidacies, a notable split was noted within the PP-DB group: most MPs belonging to PP voted for the candidacy of Silvi Kiilov, while those belonging to Yes, Bulgaria! and DSB abstained. Kirilov ultimately gained 67 votes in the first round, assuring his participation in a second round against Raya Nazaryan who gained 69 votes. In the 2nd round, Silvi Kirilov received 101 votes, which fell short of a majority.
The fifth attempt to elect a speaker took place on 22 November, with the same four candidates being nominated. Following the nomination of the candidates, heated debate took place between, primarily, representatives of ITN and Vazrazdhane on the one hand, and representatives of Yes, Bulgaria! and the BSP on the other. The former accused the two parties of blocking the functioning of the parliament and servicing the interests of Delyan Peevski and Boyko Borisov. The latter, on the other hand, pointed out that the election of a speaker should be contingent on the adoption of a clear legislative program, and further argued that electing Kirilov would absolve GERB of responsibility in the government formation process. During the debates, GERB leader, Boyko Borisov, made clear that he did not intend to withdraw the candidacy of Nazaryan. Due to the high tension caused by the debate, Acting Speaker Kirilov scheduled a 30-minute break before voting. The vote yielded a similar result as in the previous attempt 2 days ago, with Kirilov entering into a runoff with Nazaryan and receiving 101 votes in favour, while Nazaryan received 69.
On 27 November, a sixth attempt to elect a speaker took place, with the same four candidates nominated. Despite appeals by ITN MPs to representatives from BSP, Yes, Bulgaria! and DSB, the vote ended up yielding a similar result, with Nazaryan receiving 69 votes, while Kirilov received 100.
On 28 November, a seventh attempt to elect a speaker took place. The same four candidates as in previous rounds were initially nominated and received similar levels of support as in prior rounds, with Kirilov and Nazaryan proceeding to the second round. The debate became increasingly heated due to clashes between MPs from ITN and Revival on the one hand, and BSP, Yes, Bulgaria! and DSB on the other. Tensions became especially high during the speech of Revival leader,Kostadin Kostadinov, who called DB marginal and dangerous, leading to heckling by Yes, Bulgaria MP, Manol Peykov. The heated nature of debate led to a 30-minute break prior to the first voting round. During the break, Manol Peykov alleged that he was attacked by Revival MP, Slavcho Krumov. Following the first round, which yielded similar results, a long break was scheduled, during which MP Bozhidar Bozhanov claimed that representatives of the Democratic Bulgaria parties had agreed to support Kirilov . During the vote, Kirilov initially received 118 votes, which ITN MP Toshko Yordanov argued constituted a majority as 234 MPs had registered on the opening day (albeit 238 MPs were present in the room during voting). This led to demands for a re-vote, during which, Kirilov received 117 votes, thus conclusively falling short of a majority.
On 29 November, one month after the 51st National Assembly was elected, the parliament undertook an eighth attempt to elect a speaker. Only three candidates were nominated in this attempt after GERB-SDS withdrew the candidacy of Raya Nazaryan: Petar Petrov from Revival, Natalia Kiselova from ITN, and Silvi Kirilov from ITN. During the first round vote, Kirilov once again received the support of MPs from PP, APS, ITN and MECh, meanwhile, Kiselova was supported by MPs from GERB and BSP; thus enabling the two candidates to enter a run-off. Prior to the runoff, MPs from DB lamented that they would not vote for either Kirilov or Kiselova, citing the failure of the previous attempt to elect Kirilov the previous day, as well as the fact that BSP had not signed PP-DBs declaration of a cordon sanitaire against DPS-NN. Ultimately, in the runoff both candidates fell short of a majority: with Kiselova receiving 87 votes in favour, while Kirilov received 99.
On 4 December, the parliament undertook a 9th attempt to elect a speaker. One new candidate was nominated, that being Atanas Atanasov from PP-DB. Ultimately, however, Atanasov did not enter the second round, and received only 56 votes, with a similar outcome to previous attempts in the subsequent runoff between Kiselova and Kirilov. The tenth attempt yielded a similar outcome, albeit Kiselova came close to the majority after DPS-NN voted in her favour, receiving 118 votes.
Finally, on 6 December, after BSP - United Left signed the PP-DB declaration promising a cordon sanitaire against DPS-NN, Natalia Kiselova was elected as speaker with 140 votes (from GERB, PP-DB, BSP-OL and APS).
On 29 October 2025, as part of an agreement within the governing coalition, Nataliya Kiselova resigned as speaker of the National Assembly. Raya Nazaryan, nominated by GERB-SDS, was subsequently elected with the votes of 129 MPs coming from the GERB-SDS, DPS-NN, BSP-UL and ITN parliamentary groups.
Deputy Speaker Elections
7 deputy speakers were selected promptly after the election of Kiselova as speaker of the National Assembly from the parliamentary groups of GERB-SDS, PP-DB, BSP-OL, DPS, ITN and MECh. The election was boycotted by representatives of DPS-NN, who did not present their own candidate nor were present for the vote.
On 21 March 2025, Chairwoman of the National Assembly, Nataliya Kiselova, dissolved the Parliamentary Group of MECh, meaning the groups representative as deputy speaker, Radostin Vasilev, vacated his position. However, following the re-formation of the MECh Parliamentary Group 26 March, the National Assembly voted to restore Radostin Vasilev as Vice-Speaker. Additionally, Juliana Mateeva was elected as deputy speaker of the National Assembly, nominated by the Velichie parliamentary group, which had been formed following a partial annulment of the election results by the Constitutional Court.
Permanent Committees of the National Assembly The chairpersons of each of the permanent committees of the 51st National Assembly are listed below, with all being elected on 22 January, two months after the first session. Representatives of the parliamentary opposition did not receive any positions.
+CommitteeChairpersonParliamentary GroupTerm start Term End Budget and Fiscal Policy Delyan Dobrev GERB-SDS 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Constitutional and Judicial questions Anna Aleksandrova GERB-SDS 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Economy and Innovations Petar Kanev BSP – United Left 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Energy Pavela Mitova ITN 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Regional policy, development and local government Nikolay Nankov GERB-SDS 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Foreign Affairs Boyko Borisov GERB-SDS 22 January 2025 24 January 2025 Yordanka Fandakova GERB-SDS 24 January 2025 30 April 2026 European Affairs and European finances Dimitar Gurdev ITN 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Defense Hristo Gadzhev GERB-SDS 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 National Security and Internal Order Manoil Manev GERB-SDS 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Oversight over the Security Services, special surveillance tools and classified information Hristo Terziyski GERB-SDS 22 January 2025 29 April 2025 Atanas Atanasov PP-DB 30 April 2025 3 September 2025 Zlatan Zlatanov Revival 3 September 2025 14 January 2026 Deyan Dechev BSP – United Left 14 January 2026 30 April 2026 Agriculture, food and forestry Sevim Ali Democracy, Rights and Freedoms 22 January 2025 5 June 2025 Tsveta Karayancheva GERB-SDS 5 June 2025 30 April 2026 Labour and Social Policy Denitsa Sacheva GERB-SDS 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Education and Science Andrey Chorbanov ITN 22 January 2025 19 December 2025 Youth and Sport Georgi Vulkov BSP - United Left 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Healthcare Kostadin Angelov GERB-SDS 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Environment and Water Dzhevdet Chakarov Democracy, Rights and Freedoms 22 January 2025 28 May 2025 Mladen Shishkov GERB-SDS 5 June 2025 30 April 2026 Transport and Communication Kiril Dobrev BSP - United Left 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 E-Governance and Informational Technologies Levent Memish Democracy, Rights and Freedoms 22 January 2025 5 June 2025 Petya Dimitrova ITN 5 June 2025 30 April 2026 Culture and Media Toshko Yordanov ITN 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Civic engagement and interactions with citizens Rositsa Kirova GERB-SDS 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Human Rights and Religious Freedom Krasimir Sabev GERB-SDS 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Policies concerned with Bulgarians abroad Stoyan Taslakov Revival 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Prevention of corruption Maya Dimitrova BSP - United Left 22 January 2025 30 April 2026 Tourism Taner Ali Democracy, Rights and Freedoms 22 January 2025 5 June 2025 Desislav Taskov BSP - United Left 5 June 2025 30 April 2026 Demographic policies, children and families Hasan Ademov Democracy, Rights and Freedoms 22 January 2025 5 June 2025 Iliana Zhekova GERB-SDS 5 June 2025 30 April 2026
Temporary Parliamentary Committees