Bulgaria, Democratization

The years after the 1989 collapse of the ruling communist government in Bulgaria, along with the profound political changes throughout Eastern European countries, resulted in a fundamental restructuring of the society. Prior to that, an atmosphere encouraging social obedience in line with Party-State propaganda priorities reigned in the country. Freedom of expression was totally controlled. The idea of glasnost (openness) and perestroyka (restructuring) launched by Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 opened the doors for pluralistic discussion clubs in Bulgaria. The first dissident associations, however small, found support among the public. Communist Party leaders, fearing the threat of social unrest, tried to reform the party along Soviet perestroika lines. The general secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) and chairman of the State Council, Todor Zhivkov, was removed from power in a November 10, 1989, party coup.

Political activity among the population surged dramatically, and its legality was no longer questioned. Political rallies and demonstrations became the events of the day. Encouraged by the landslide of totalitarian collapse throughout Central and Eastern Europe, on December 7, 1989, the opposition set up The Union of Democratic Forces (UDF); a coalition of 16 prodemocratic parties and organizations. One major political achievement of the UDF was the abolishment of Article I of the Constitution, which legitimized the leading role of the Communist Party in societal and state affairs. The consensus achieved by political forces in the round-table discussions (1990) for convocation of a Grand National Assembly marked the start of legalization of the democratic processes in Bulgaria. The Grand National Assembly adopted a new constitution on July 12, 1991. It was the first democratic constitution in the former Eastern Bloc countries. It proclaimed that Bulgaria would be governed by the rule of law and set up the fundamental principles of [Page 71]a civil society. Zhelyu Zhelev, the leader of the UDF and a longtime dissident, was elected president of the National Assembly on August 1, 1991.

Under the terms of the new constitution, Bulgaria is a parliamentary Republic. The National Assembly is composed of 240 deputies elected for a term of 4 years. The president, as the head of state of the Republic of Bulgaria, is elected with majority vote for a term of 5 years.

The long years of one-party dominance were replaced by an ever-growing host of new political parties, unions, and organizations, which constantly split, regrouped, and entered into coalitions, especially on the eve of forthcoming elections. However, the model of democracy that was forming in the country delegated the difficult tasks of transition to the political elite and eliminated the broad participation of the people in the process of transformation.

The period of transformation to democracy and a market economy posed significant social challenges to the population in Bulgaria. The transition was slowed down by delayed legislation, aggressive political behavior, and underdeveloped markets. All of this caused a rapid impoverishment, a high rate of unemployment, and a loss of established social benefits such as free health care and free education. Thus, the country entered the 21st century under the Currency Board. The encouraging sign is that the political processes and changes in the country are carried out peacefully and in spite of significant differences between the political forces, their reasonable behavior has so far not allowed any disastrous display of violence.

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