site.btaUPDATED President Iotova: Honest Elections Are Key Priority

At caretaker appointment procedure consultations with the GERB-UDF Parliamentary Group, Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova said on Tuesday that the foremost priority is having honest, transparent and well-run elections.

Iotova added that this "was also the wish of hundreds of thousands of Bulgarian citizens who protested".

She was referring to massive anti-government protests in Sofia and other cities across the country in late November 2025 that were triggered by the cabinet's controversial budget plans but escalated into anti-government discontent over corruption, injustice, and failure in many governance sectors. Under pressure from these protests, the Rosen Zhelyazkov Cabinet resigned on December 11. 

"We are doing everything possible, in the situation we are in, to have the earliest possible date for holding elections. We have no intention whatsoever to artificially delay things and stretch them out in time. We are guided by the desire to hear everyone, both the candidates [for caretaker PM] and the parliamentary groups, and also to take the holidays into account, because people are entitled to them and they deserve them," Iotova said.

"The election of a new National Assembly Chair is entirely in the hands of the MPs," she said, commenting on GERB-UDF’s proposal to have a new parliament head elected so that there can also be a new candidate for caretaker prime minister. "It can in no way be my wish or recommendation, still less the choice of a specific person because I am one of those people who deeply believe in the separation of powers," Iotova added. "I will also put this to the other parliamentary groups. I understand this is your proposal, but given the limited time we may have before the elections, I honestly do not know whether it will be feasible."

"We face difficult moments in the coming months, but our goal is common - transparent and honest elections and a functioning state - both until the formation of a caretaker cabinet and during its work until succeeded by a Parliament-elected government," Iotova said.

She noted that the consultations are part of the constitutional procedure but cannot under any circumstances be formal.

"Under the latest amendments to the Constitution, the National Assembly is a permanently functioning body," Iotova said. She sees this as an indication of the continuity of political responsibility, which becomes even more shared between the legislative and the executive, between the Council of Ministers and the National Assembly. "I hope for constructive work going forward," Iotova added.

She said that the constitutional amendments limit her choice of a caretaker PM to a strictly defined pool of ten individuals. "They were selected by the National Assembly," Iotova said. "Unfortunately, half of them have declined, for various reasons, both political and related to constraints under national and European legislation," she added, specifying that she would exercise her constitutional powers and mandate one of the remaining five in the pool.

"Today's consultations are about your assessment of the most important and most urgent issues that our country must address in the coming months. Your assessments and positions will help me choose which of the five who have agreed [to be caretaker PM] will be the most suitable. I will take into account all your considerations and positions, but I will make my decision primarily in line with my own understanding of the interests of the state and of the citizens," Iotova said.

Later on Tuesday, Iotova also held talks with Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB).

After the cabinet forming mandates handed by then President Rumen Radev to three parliamentary groups (GERB-UDF, Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria and Alliance for Rights and Freedoms) failed, the head of State was required to appoint a caretaker prime minister and schedule early parliamentary elections within two months.

Radev resigned the presidency and then Vice President Iotova became president on January 23, 2025. She consulted the ten senior public officials eligible for the office of caretaker PM: the National Assembly chair, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) governor and the three deputy governors, the Bulgarian National Audit Office (BNAO) president and the two vice presidents, and the National Ombudsman and the deputy ombudsman. Of the ten, National Assembly Chair Raya Nazaryan, central bank governor Dimitar Radev, deputy governors Petar Chobanov and Radoslav Milenkov, and Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva declined, whereas BNB Deputy Governor Andrey Gurov, BNAO President Dimitar Glavchev and Vice Presidents Margarita Nikolova and Silvia Kadreva, and Deputy Ombudsman Maria Filipova said they were ready to serve as caretaker PM.  

Next, in line with the constitutional provisions, Iotova is holding consultations with the parliamentary groups before making her choice public.