Alliance For Rights And Freedoms

The Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (; ) often known as DPS–Dogan (ДПС–Доган) or colloquially as the Doganists (Доганистите), is a Bulgarian political electoral coalition. It is chaired by Hayri Sadakov, but its common name comes from its links to the founder of the original DPS, Ahmed Dogan.

History

DPS dispute and formation

The electoral coalition was formed following a legal dispute between the joint chairmen of the DPS, Chakarov and Delyan Peevski. On 27 August 2024, Peevski and several of his allies were expelled from the party, which was linked to DPS founder and honorary chairman Ahmed Dogan. Peevski challenged the decision and argued this was unconstitutional. With the deadline to register for the October elections approaching, both the Dogan and Peevski wings made preparations to run separate coalitions.

When registration opened on 2 September, both the Dogan and Peevski coalitions were registered. Both argued they were the first, with Peevski submitting an unprecedented electronic application rather than one in person. Despite the both coalitions being registered initially, the Commission decided on 4 September that both had to prove the original party was not part of either group, something neither wing agreed to do by the 7 September deadline. On 11 September, because it was submitted first, the Supreme Administrative Court of Bulgaria ruled that the electronic application of DPS–Peevski was valid, after which DPS–Dogan changed their name and registered without claiming DPS to be a member of the alliance.

In December 2024 and February 2025 the Sofia City Court ruled that Peevski's expulsion from the party and removal as co-leader had been invalid.

In Parliament

DPS–Dogan achieved 6th place in the parliamentary elections in October 2024, receiving 19 seats. Following the election, they agreed to provide extra-governmental support to the minority government of the Zhelyazkov Government.

In March 2025, DPS–Dogan suggested they could withdraw their support for the government, and declared that they believed the government had been working with DPS–Peevski.

In May 2025, the leader of the group, Chakarov, withdrew his claim to the leadership of the original DPS, following legal pressure and a meeting with Peevski. Subsequently, on 28 May, Chakarov announced he would be leaving the DPS–Dogan group to sit as an independent. The remaining MPs of the group selected Hayri Sadakov to succeed Chakarov as chairman of the group. Another MP, Vanya Vasileva, also left the party to sit as an independent a few days later.

In June 2025, the speaker of the National Assembly, Nataliya Kiselova, put forward proposals to strip DPS–Dogan of it's 'DPS–DPS' name it uses in the National Assembly.

New party

Following the defection of Chakarov, those affiliated with DPS–Dogan set about creating a new party with a new leader. Dogan himself reportedly supports the project, but will not be a part of it. A possible name for this new formation reported is the "Movement for Unity and Justice".

Composition

The composition of DPS–Dogan is as follows:

Election results

National Assembly

See also

* DPS – A New Beginning

Notes

References

{{Bulgarian political parties

Centrist parties in Bulgaria
Bulgarian Turks
Kemalist political parties
Liberal parties in Bulgaria
Political parties of minorities
Turkish political parties
Political parties established in 2024