Politics of Bulgaria

The politics of Bulgaria take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic,^[1] whereby the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system.^[2] Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

After forty-five years of single party system, Bulgaria became an unstable party system in 1989. This system was dominated by democratic parties and opposition to socialists – the Union of Democratic Forces and several personalistic parties and the post-communist Bulgarian Socialist Party or its creatures, which emerged for a short period of time in the past decade. Personalistic parties could have been seen in the former governing (from 2001 to 2005) Simeon II's NDSV party and Boyko Borisov's GERB party.

Bulgaria has generally good freedom of speech and human rights records as reported by the US Library of Congress Federal Research Division in 2006,^[3] while Freedom House listed it as "free" in 2020, giving it scores of 33 for political rights and 45 for civil liberties.^[4] However, in 2014, there were some concerns that the proposed new Penal Code would limit freedom of the press and assembly,^[5] and as a consequence freedom of speech. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Bulgaria a "flawed democracy" in 2022.^[6]

^ Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria Archived 2014-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
^ Bulgaria Library of Congress Country Study, Government and politics - overview, p. 16
^ Library of Congress – Federal Research Division (October 2006). "Country Profile: Bulgaria" (PDF). Library of Congress. pp. 18, 23. Retrieved 4 September 2009. Mass Media: In 2006 Bulgaria's print and broadcast media generally were considered unbiased, although the government dominated broadcasting through the state-owned Bulgarian National Television (BNT) and Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) and print news dissemination through the largest press agency, the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency. [...]Human Rights: In the early 2000s, Bulgaria generally has been rated highly on the issue of human rights. However, some exceptions exist. Although the media have a record of unbiased reporting, Bulgaria's lack of specific legislation protecting the media from state interference is a theoretical weakness. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Government.
^ "Bulgaria: Freedom in the World 2021 Country Report". Freedom House. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
^ Carney, Sean (22 January 2014). "Bulgaria Faces Criticism Over Proposed Legislation - WSJ". Wall Street Journal.
^ "Democracy Index 2022: Frontline democracy and the battle for Ukraine" (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit. 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-09.

[1] Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria Archived 2014-03-11 at the Wayback Machine

[LCCS_Government-2] Bulgaria Library of Congress Country Study, Government and politics - overview, p. 16

[3] Library of Congress – Federal Research Division (October 2006). "Country Profile: Bulgaria" (PDF). Library of Congress. pp. 18, 23. Retrieved 4 September 2009. Mass Media: In 2006 Bulgaria's print and broadcast media generally were considered unbiased, although the government dominated broadcasting through the state-owned Bulgarian National Television (BNT) and Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) and print news dissemination through the largest press agency, the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency. [...]Human Rights: In the early 2000s, Bulgaria generally has been rated highly on the issue of human rights. However, some exceptions exist. Although the media have a record of unbiased reporting, Bulgaria's lack of specific legislation protecting the media from state interference is a theoretical weakness. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Government.

[4] "Bulgaria: Freedom in the World 2021 Country Report". Freedom House. Retrieved 2021-05-14.

[5] Carney, Sean (22 January 2014). "Bulgaria Faces Criticism Over Proposed Legislation - WSJ". Wall Street Journal.

[democracy-index-6] "Democracy Index 2022: Frontline democracy and the battle for Ukraine" (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit. 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-09.

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