Issues with regional lists

There were disagreements between members of the alliance over the orders and members of regional lists.^{[17][18][19][20]}

Prior to the final announcement and submission of the regional lists, some figures in PP either left the party or threatened to leave it. Notably, a prominent^[21] PP Member of Parliament (MP) from Pleven, Ivan Hristanov, declared that he would be leaving PP,^[22] and would not participate in the upcoming elections.^[23][24] There was speculation that he left due to conflicts with the leader of the list in the Pleven Electoral District.^[25][18] Petkov denied that this was the case.^[23]

PP MP from Sofia Oblast, Alexander Dunchev, announced he would not be contesting the election and would leave PP, due to a DB member being placed as the leader of the list, calling the decision a "betrayal".^[26][27][28]

Chairman of the PP Parliamentary Group, Andrey Gyurev, denied that any "under the table" negotiations about list leaders were on-going and that all list leaders would be chosen based on merit. Gyurev confirmed that the PP Executive Council would meet on 22 February to finalise the list with DB.^[29]

On 27 February, a day before lists were to be announced, disagreements broke out in Blagoevgrad Province. This led to DB MP and lawyer, Ivan Dimitrov, who had been selected to be third on the local list, to announce that he would be withdrawing from politics, citing problems with the joint list as one of his reasons.^[30]

Campaign

The PP–DB coalition began its campaign on 19 February at an open air event in front of the National Theater in Sofia. The event was attended by PP co-leaders, Petkov and Vasilev, Panev, the leader of ZD, DSB leader Atanas Atanasov, independent former BSP MP Yavor Bozhankov, as well as leaders of public organisations which had decided to endorse the list.^[31] At this meeting, it was confirmed that Yavor Bozhankov will lead the list in Gabrovo, additionally that PP–DB stated that they represent the "good forces" in Bulgarian politics, as opposed to GERB, which represented a return to the past.^[32]

On 3 March, Bulgarian Liberation Day, PP–DB unveiled their slogan "There is a Way" (Bulgarian: Има Как) at an event. The alliance called for Bulgarians to come together to fight for change, proposing five steps that would ensure a "good European life for all Bulgarians". The five steps are as follows:^[33]

• Joining the Eurozone in 2023
• Joining the Schengen area in 2023
• Investing millions into regional development, including especially strengthening farms
• Diversifying Bulgaria's energy supply
• Guaranteeing quality healthcare and education for all Bulgarians

Regional list leaders

The following table displays all the candidates who are placed first in the regional list for PP–DB for the April 2023 elections.^[34][35]