site.btaGrand National Assembly in Oborishte Laid Foundations of Bulgarian Parliamentarism, Says Parliament Chair Kiselova

With the way it was convened and with its decisions, the Grand National Assembly in Oborishte laid the foundations of Bulgaria's modern democratic statehood, of Bulgarian parliamentarism, the principles of which Bulgarians still uphold today, said Parliament Chair Nataliya Kiselova in her speech on the occasion of the 149th anniversary of the April Uprising.

"The participants in this sacred cause bequeathed to us the foundations for the emergence of the first democratic Bulgarian institution, namely the Bulgarian Parliament," she emphasised. "With the Grand National Assembly in Oborishte, our people, although under slavery, proved that they are ready for a free socio-political democratic life," Kiselova said. She noted that the participants in the assembly are expressions of the political maturity of the Bulgarian National Revival society and that they have bequeathed to Bulgarians the principles of suffrage, majority rule and democracy, which are valid to this day, and were also followed in the drafting of the first Tarnovo Constitution.

"I am glad that today I am with you in this place steeped in history, a place pure and holy, a place where our ancestors declared their unwavering determination to declare 'before the whole world that we want freedom or death'," Kiselova stressed, adding that 149 memorable years have passed since the days when Bulgaria's ancestors reaffirmed their clear will and readiness, with weapons in their hands, to embark on a bloody and desperate struggle for national liberation.

"Let us gather here every year and teach the young to remember and respect the work of our brave ancestors. May the memory of the people of Oborishte always be bright, and may we be their faithful followers," Kiselova concluded.