Early parliamentary elections will be held in Bulgaria on 9 June 2024,^[1][2] to elect members of the National Assembly. The election coincides with the European Parliament election on the same day.^[1][2] This Bulgarian parliamentary election was initially scheduled to be held before 12 June 2027; however, as formation and approval of the rotation government scheduled to replace the Denkov Government failed on 20 March 2024, the Bulgarian President, Rumen Radev, announced after having concluded a further second and third failed attempt to form a government among the elected parties, that he would now appoint a new caretaker prime minister and caretaker government tasked to organize a new snap election. The election campaign has been scheduled to run from 10 May until 7 June.^[3] The current 49th Parliament will stay in power until the newly elected candidates are sworn in after the election, but its normal working process was suspended by an adopted election recess on 27 April. While on election recess the 49th Parliament may still reconvene for an extraordinary sitting "in exceptional circumstances", as its Rules of Procedure say.^[4] The elections will be the country's sixth since 2021, and the fifth snap election in the same timeframe.

Quick Facts Party, Leader ...

2024 Bulgarian parliamentary election

← 2023 9 June 2024[1]

All 240 seats in the National Assembly 121 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader Current seats GERB–SDS Boyko Borisov 69 PP–DB K. Petkov and A. Vasilev A. Atanasov and H. Ivanov 64 Revival Kostadin Kostadinov 37 DPS D. Peevski and D. Chakarov 36 BSPzB Korneliya Ninova 23 ITN Slavi Trifonov 11 Incumbent Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev (caretaker) Independent

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Following several snap elections, the Bulgarian National Assembly had failed to put together a long-lasting government since 'anti-corruption' parties made a breakthrough in the April 2021 election.^[5][6] The 2023 election saw little change from 2022, with Boyko Borisov's centre-right GERB—SDS narrowly winning over the centrist PP–DB alliance. The far right Revival (VAZ) and the populist There is Such a People (ITN) made gains, with the latter re-entering the Assembly after it failed to reach the electoral threshold in the 2022 election.^[7][8]

On 22 May 2023, the PP- and GERB-led alliances agreed to form a government with a rotational premiership. Nikolai Denkov, PP's candidate, would be the Prime Minister for the first nine months of the government and Mariya Gabriel, the GERB candidate, would serve as deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister. After nine months, the two would switch positions.^[9]

Denkov resigned in accordance with the rotation agreement on 5 March, to allow Gabriel to become the new Prime Minister.^[10] On 20 March 2024, the planned government rotation and signing of a renewed government failed^[why?].^[11][12][13] Negotiations within the first negotiation mandate ensued across the end of March,^{[14][15][16][17]} but failed to produce any workable governments^[why?].^[18][19][20]

Two further rounds of negotiations will follow. The constitution declares that after a first failed attempt of government formation, the President must then ask the second-largest party in parliament (PP–DB) to try and form a government; and if this also fails he shall then give a final third attempt to any remaining party of his choosing.^[21] If all three stages of negotiations fail, it is likely that elections would be held on 9 June 2024, coinciding with the European Parliament election on the same day.^[22]

PP–DB declared on 26 March, that they would accept giving a second negotiation mandate a try, but it would be limited to a negotiation attempt to form a government together with GERB–SDS that fully respected their original rotation agreement of 2023. The proposed negotiation framework would be for GERB–SDS to sign the reform agreement negotiated with PP–DB, while GERB–SDS nominates a mutually acceptable next Prime Minister, and the current structure of the cabinet has to be preserved. If GERB–SDS by a written letter refused this PP–DB proposal, the second negotiation mandate would immediately be returned unfulfilled to the President.^[23] A few hours later, GERB–SDS refused this proposal and called for early elections.^[24]

On 27 March, PP–DB officially returned the second negotiation mandate incomplete to the President, requesting that the President schedule early legislative elections on the same day as the 2024 European Parliament election.^[25][26] President Radev decided the following day to give the third mandate for an attempted government formation to ITN, the smallest party in the 49th National Assembly.^[27] The third mandate was immediately returned incomplete by ITN, without wasting any time on fruitless negotiation attempts.^[28]

Under Article 99 of the Constitution, when no agreement on formation of a government has been reached after all three attempted negotiation mandates have been tried, the President, in consultation with the parliamentary groups and on the proposal of the candidate for caretaker prime minister, appoints a caretaker government and schedules new early elections within two months from its inauguration.^[29] On 29 March, the President appointed the Chairman of the National Audit Office, Dimitar Glavchev, as a candidate for caretaker prime minister;^[30] and he was granted a one week deadline of until 6 April to propose the composition of the caretaker government.^[31]

On 5 April, Dimitar Glavchev presented his proposal for the caretaker government,^[32] and after consultations being held the same day on whether it could be approved by the representatives of all political parties from the 49th National Assembly,^[33] the President announced he would sign a decree on 9 April 2024 approving the caretaker PM and his caretaker government, and at the same time he would sign a decree setting the date for new parliamentary elections to 9 June 2024.^[34] On 9 April, caretaker prime minister Glavchev and his cabinet was confirmed and inaugurated by the National Assembly,^[35] and the election date was set by presidential decree to 9 June 2024.^[1]

The Central Election Commission subsequently adopted a schedule for the elections, regulating that the election campaign will begin at 12 am on 10 May and will end at midnight on 7 June.^[3]

The current 49th Parliament will stay in session at least until the election campaign begins, where a decision of election recess is expected to be adopted by Parliament. According to MP Ivaylo Vulchev [bg], some of his colleagues even considered — to his dismay — that Parliament should not go on election recess, but continue meeting during the election campaign while however only allowing discussed topics within the realm of "such that it does not look as if someone has started his election campaign from the rostrum."^[36] The current 49th Parliament suspended its normal working process by an adopted election recess on 27 April. While on election recess the 49th Parliament may still reconvene for an extraordinary sitting "in exceptional circumstances", as its Rules of Procedure say. The yet to be elected 50th Parliament will replace the 49th Parliament as soon as the newly elected members are sworn in after the election.^[4]

The opinion poll results below were recalculated from the original data and exclude polls that chose "I will not vote" or "I am uncertain" options.

121 seats are needed for a parliamentary majority.