site.btaNovember 10, 1989: Todor Zhivkov Is Ousted as Bulgarian Communist Party Chief

On November 10, 1989, the Central Committee (CC) of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) accepted the resignation of Todor Zhivkov as its General Secretary. He was ousted after 35 years in power, as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of perestroika and glasnost had transformed the political landscape across Eastern Europe.

Zhivkov resigned to the Politburo of the BCP Central Committee on November 9, the day the Berlin Wall fell. However, the Communist Party leadership did not break the news to the general public until after the decision had been adopted by a unanimous vote at the party plenum on November 10. Zhivkov, aged 78, agreed to step down following a series of meetings with the Soviet Ambassador to Bulgaria, KGB General Viktor Sharapov, between November 6 and 9, according to Dr Mihail Gruev, President of the Archives State Agency.

Contrary to what he had been promised, Zhivkov saw the Central Committee decide that he would be stripped of his other position, too, as President of the State Council (de facto head of State). The lobby backing the ex-Number One tried to keep him in that post, but the conspirators in his inner circle (Andrei Lukanov, Petar Mladenov and General Dobri Dzhurov) prevailed and deprived him of all leverage, making sure he would not be able to stage a comeback.

On November 10, Zhivkov was replaced at the head of the BCP by Petar Mladenov, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs who was supposed to restructure the communist regime, similar to Gorbachev's drive in the USSR. However, following rapid developments in Eastern Europe, it soon became clear that the totalitarian system could not survive and that the Communist Party could not retain its monopoly on power. On November 17, Mladenov was elected President of the State Council at the first National Assembly sitting after the Plenum, which was broadcast live on TV. The legislature also repealed Penal Code provisions that criminalized criticism of the government. A month later, the BCP Central Committee adopted a package of decisions setting the country on a course to parliamentary multi-party democracy and proposed the repeal of Article 1 of the Constitution, which defined the Communist Party as "the leading force in society and in the state". The repeal of Article 1 enter into force on January 15, 1990.

In June 1990, Bulgaria held its first democratic multi-party parliamentary elections since the installation of the communist regime in September 1944.

Zhivkov stepped down on the understanding that his family would not be subjected to any reprisals, leaving Bulgaria to cope with staggering indebtedness: nearly BGL 11 billion in foreign debt and BGL 26 billion of domestic debt that had built up over the last few years of his tenure, investigative journalist Hristo Hristov wrote in his book The Secret Bankruptcies of Communism.

Todor Zhivkov was charged with the forcible assimilation of ethnic Turks, abuse of power, and causing detriment to the state budget. He died on August 5, 1998, without ever being convicted of the crimes he committed while in power. All charges against him were dropped after his death.

Following is the news story by which the BTA Home News Desk announced the fall of Todor Zhivkov on November 10, 1989:

"Petar Mladenov Is Elected Secretary General of Communist Party Central Committee

Sofia, November 10, 1989 (BTA) – At its regular plenary session today, the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party elected Comrade Petar Mladenov General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party.

The plenary session granted Todor Zhivkov's request to be relieved of his duties as General Secretary and member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, and expressed deep gratitude for his many years of dedicated service to the Party and the people.

The plenum proposes that the National Assembly honour Comrade Todor Zhivkov's request to be relieved of his duties as Chairman of the State Council of the People's Republic of Bulgaria." 

The international reaction to Zhivkov's ouster was reported in BTA's S–2A Special Confidential Supplement Bulletin. Following is a dispatch from the Associated Press:

"Sofia, November 11 (By Roland Prinz, Associated Press Writer). Todor Zhivkov, the Soviet bloc’s longest-serving party leader, stepped down, but his successor said that the struggle to remove the other members of the old guard will be very severe. While promising full freedom of all information, Petar Mladenov still made it clear that Bulgaria will not follow the example of some other Warsaw Pact countries and deviate from communism. Zhivkov resigned yesterday after 35 years in power, during which he moulded Bulgaria into one of the Kremlin’s most loyal allies."