site.btaUPDATED No Confidence Motions (1991-2025): 48 Fails, 1 Pass

Since 1991, when Bulgaria's new Constitution enabled the National Assembly to take a vote of no confidence in the Council of Ministers, this option has been used on a total of 49 occasions against all 13 parliament-elected cabinets that have been in office during that period.

Only one of these motions has succeeded: the one against the Kiril Petkov cabinet, voted on June 22, 2022. He resigned, as required by the Constitution. Fifty no-confidence motions have been defeated.

On one occasion, a motion of no confidence was entered and a vote on it was scheduled (for November 11, 1996) but did not take place as the government collapsed amidst mass protests: Zhan Videnov resigned as prime minister on December 21, and his cabinet was voted out of office on December 28, 1996.

The fewest no-confidence challenges (one each) have been attempted against as few as three governments: Filip Dimitrov (1991-1992), the second Boyko Borissov Cabinet (2014-2017), and Kiril Petkov (2021-2022). On the downside, both Dimitrov and Petkov had to step down early: the former after Parliament rejected a vote of confidence he asked for, and the latter after losing a motion of no confidence against him.

The largest number of no-confidence motions - seven - were tabled against the cabinet headed by Sergei Stanishev (2005-2009), followed by six each against the governments of Lyuben Berov (1992-1994) and Simeon Saxe Coburg Gotha (2001-2005).

The subjects of the no-confidence motions have varied widely, from corruption to alleged failures in the energy sector, public finance, healthcare, to foreign and domestic policy, EU funds mismanagement, defence and security. Some votes have been prompted by a withdrawal of government-supporting parties.