The Forty-Ninth National Assembly () was a convocation of the

National Assembly of Bulgaria The National Assembly () is the Unicameralism, unicameral parliament and Legislature, legislative body of the Republic of Bulgaria. The first National Assembly was established in 1879 with the Tarnovo Constitution. During the People's Republic ...

, formed according to the results of the early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria, held on 2 April 2023. It was replaced by the 50th National Assembly, summoned by the President on the 17th of June.

Speakership selection

Despite each parliamentary group having the right to nominate a candidate for the Speakership role, it was contested only between

GERB GERB, an acronym for Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (), is a conservative center-right populist political party which was the ruling party of Bulgaria during the periods between 2009–2013, 2014-2021, 2025-present and was suppor ...

’s

Rosen Zhelyazkov Rosen Dimitrov Zhelyazkov (, born 5 April 1968) is a Bulgarian politician who is the current prime minister of Bulgaria. A member of GERB, he previously served as Minister of Transport from 2018 to 2021, Member of the National Assembly from 2021 ...

and

Revival Revival most often refers to: *Resuscitation of a person *Language revival of an extinct language *Revival (sports team) of a defunct team *Revival (television) of a former television series *Revival (theatre), a new production of a previously pro ...

’s Petar Petrov. The process failed twice due to Petrov only receiving the support of his own party and Zhelyazkov not getting enough votes. The problem was resolved after PP-DB agreed to back Zhelyazkov's candidacy, with the agreement for him to switch places with

Nikola Minchev Nikola Georgiev Minchev (; born September 13 1987) is a Bulgarian politician. He was elected MEP at the 2024 European Parliament election. A member of the PP party, he previously served as Speaker of the National Assembly from 2021 to 2022 and ...

in three months time. This was later changed, after the two parties agreed to a

rotation government A rotation government or alternation government is one of the ways of forming of a government in a parliamentary state. It is a government that, during its term, will see the individual holding the post of prime minister switch (or "rotate"), whe ...

, in which the Prime Ministers would switch places simultaneously as the Speakers of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

Government formation

With

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

being in the middle of an already 2-year-lasting

political crisis A cabinet crisis, government crisis or political crisis refers to a situation where an incumbent government is unable to form or function, is toppled through an uprising, or collapses. Political crises may correspond with, cause or be caused by an ...

, the GERB-SDS and PP-DB parliamentary groups decided to disregard their differences and embrace their common

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...

goals. The solution was to be a

, many of whose Ministers were to be

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

experts. The respective nominees for

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

were

Mariya Gabriel Mariya Ivanova Gabriel (, ''née'' Nedelcheva, , born 20 May 1979) is a Bulgarian and European politician, president of the Robert Schuman Institute. She served as Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bulgaria), Mini ...

, the

European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth The European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth is a member of the European Commission. The portfolio was previously titled ''European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport'' until 2019 when it wa ...

and Nikolay Denkov, a former Minister of Education and Science. After long negotiations, Nikolay Denkov was sworn in as Prime Minister on June 6, 2023, while Gabriel assumed the role of his Deputy and

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

. The two would switch places in nine months time. The main goals of the new

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

were Bulgaria joining both the

Schengen area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

and the

Eurozone The euro area, commonly called the eurozone (EZ), is a Monetary union, currency union of 20 Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (Euro sign, €) as their primary currency ...

, as well as other legislative initiatives, such as a constitutional amendment in regards to the

judicial branch The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

in Bulgaria.

Independents

The parliamentary group of

party initially won 37 seats in the National Assembly. However, 3 members later left the group, reducing their number of seats to 34. Similarly, the coalition PP-DB, which secured 64 seats, experienced the departure of 1 member, leaving them with 63 seats.

References

{{notelist National Assembly (Bulgaria) 2023 establishments in Bulgaria