site.btaUPDATED Court Registers Delyan Peevski as Sole Leader of Movement for Rights and Freedoms

The Sofia City Court has entered Delyan Peevski in its political parties register as the sole chairperson of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF).

Peevski thanked MRF supporters in a media statement. “I want to thank you because we changed the course of history together!” Peevski said. He commented that 30 years ago, the party was appropriated and misused by a sham elite, and now it has been returned to the people.

“In the space of a year, we put MRF – New Beginning back at the centre of the political playing field. Our goal is to grow bigger, to develop our potential and power,” Peevski said.

The court decision comes after a long period of internal conflict in the MRF. It finalizes the process of legitimizing the leadership elected at the party’s National Conference on December 22, 2024. The Conference unanimously approved Peevski as MRF Chairperson (leader) and adopted crucial revisions to the party statutes, including the closure of the Honorary Chairperson’s office and the establishment of a new youth chapter of the MRF. The party’s Central Operative Bureau was restructured.

Friday’s court decision definitively leaves Honorary Chair Ahmed Dogan’s faction without any control over the party. The process began with the resignation of Dzhevdet Chakarov as co-leader (alongside Peevski) in May 2024, the loss of the party’s headquarters at Alexander Stamboliiski Boulevard in Sofia and the loss of control over the official website, dps.bg. Later, the parliamentary group of the Dogan loyalists was renamed Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, a name which the Dogan faction had used in the parliamentary elections in October 2023.

The final touch was added on Thursday, when Peevski’s faction, MRF – New Beginning, regained its status as administrator of the party’s official Facebook page. Two days earlier, Ahmed Dogan declared the start of a three-month transitional process to establish a new political entity.