site.btaTwenty-one Pairs Kick Off Presidential Campaign

Twenty-one Pairs Kick Off Presidential Campaign

Sofia, October 7 (BTA) - A total of 21 pairs of candidates for Bulgaria's November 6 presidential elections are starting their campaigns on Friday.

The numbers that will appear on the ballots of the presidential candidates have been assigned following a draw.

The candidate of the ruling GERB party, Tsetska Tsacheva is Number 17. The candidate supported by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, Roumen Radev, is 13. The Reformist Bloc's Traicho Traikov is 7. Tatyana Doncheva of Movement 21 is 12 and ABV's Ivaylo Kalfin is 15. Ex-Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski is 4.

Svetoslav Vitkov and Ivan Velkov, who got Number 1, and Vladimir Kouzov and Borislav Noev, who were supposed to be on ballot Number 9, have dropped out after falling short of the required number of legitimate signatures.

Following is the full list of candidates for President and Vice President arranged by their ballot number:

2 Vessein Mareshki/Peter Petrov (nominating committee)
3 Velizar Enchev/Bilyana Veleva (Bulgarian Spring Movement for Radical Change)
4 Plamen Oresharski/Danail Papazov (nominating committee)
5 George Ganchev/Kolyo Paramov (Christian-Social Union)
6 Diana Dimitrova/Gabriel Gerassimov (nominating committee)
7 Traicho Traikov/Subi Subev (Reformist Bloc)
8 Bisser Milanov/Krassimir Nastev (nominating committee)
10 Alexander Tomov/Radoslav Radoslavov (Bulgarian Social Democracy-Euro-Left)
11 Yordanka Koleva/Vesselin Hristov (nominating committee)
12 Tatyana Doncheva/Mincho Spassov (Movement 21 - National Movement for Surge and Stability)
13 Roumen Radev/Iliyana Yotova (nominating committee)
14 Gospodin Tonev/Andrei Andreev (Bulgarian Democratic Community)
15 Ivaylo Kalfin/Lyubomir Halachev (Kalfin for Present Coalition)
16 Kamen Popov/Georgi Nedelchev (nominating committee)
17 Tsetska Tsacheva/Plamen Miloushev (GERB)
18 Roumen Gulubinov/Veska Voleva (nominating committee)
19 Krassimir Karakachanov/Yavor Notev (United Patriots: National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria, Ataka and IMRO)
20 Kemil Ramadan/Monchil Dobrev (Balkan Democratic League)
21 Plamen Paskov/Svetozar Suev (nominating committee)
22 Dimiter Marinov/Radoslav Petrov (Bulgarian National Alliance)
23 Nikolai Banev/Sali Ibryam (nominating committee)

Friday is also the first day of the awareness campaign for an election-related referendum which will be held together with the presidential elections. A total of 37 parties, coalitions and initiative committees have registered to participate in the awareness campaign.

At the referendum. voters will be asked three questions as follows: "Do you support the election of members of parliament based on the majority principle in two rounds?; Do you support the introduction of compulsory voting in elections and referendums?; Do you support setting the state subsidy, allocated for financing political parties and coalitions, at 1 lev per vote received in the latest general elections?".