Sofia Municipal Council Fails to Elect Chair, Sofia Mayor Warns Deadline Is December 12
The deadline to elect a chairman of the Sofia Municipal Council is December 12, Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev said at the beginning of Thursday’s council meeting
site.btaSofia Municipal Council Remains Stuck in Impasse over Election of Its Chair
The Sofia Municipal Council remains stuck in an impasse after the third attempt to elect its chairperson failed on Thursday. Boris Bonev, the candidate of Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria and Save Sofia, who got the most support in the previous two votes but not enough to be elected, withdrew from the race this time. GERB did not nominate a candidate.
The next chance for a solution to the deadlock is on December 7, when the municipal council is due to meet again.
Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria and Save Sofia is the largest group in the municipal council and GERB’s is the second largest.
The Sofia Municipal Council has 61 members and to be elected as a chair, a candidate needs to be supported by 31 council members. With 23 seats, Bonev's group has been unable to secure the support it needs from the other groups.
There were two rounds of voting on Thursday. In the first, 45 council members cast their vote. The Socialist candidate, Diana Tonova, won seven votes and Krassimir Galabov of Vazrazhdane won as many. The candidate of There Is Such a People, Plamen Danailov, was backed by four councilors. A total of 27 of the ballots were invalid. In the second round, in which the chairmanship was contested by the two candidates with the most votes, Tonova got eight of the 40 votes cast and Galabov got seven, while 25 of the ballots were invalid.
It was clear before the votes were cast that Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria and Save Sofia would cast invalid ballots.
Voting was secret, by paper ballots.
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