New Sofia Mayor, Borough Mayors, Municipal Councillors Sworn In

UPDATED New Sofia Mayor, Borough Mayors, Municipal Councillors Sworn In

Valentin Evstatiev

BTA photo

Sofia,

13.11.2023 11:23 | UPDATED 13.11.2023 11:54

(BTA)

Vassil Terziev took the oath of office as Mayor of Sofia on Monday at the first meeting of the new Municipal Council after the local elections on October 29. The meeting was opened by Sofia Regional Governor Vyara Todeva.

In his inaugural speech, Terziev said: "We should protect the interests of all people in our city, regardless of their political views." He reiterated his campaign pledge to be the mayor of all Sofianites. "From now on, we should work together with the municipal councillors in seeking the values, the principles and the ways in which our municipality can work even more effectively, transparently and quickly to address issues."

Terziev, who was nominated for mayor of the capital by the coalition of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria and Save Sofia, won 48.20% of the votes in the November 5 runoff against Vanya Grigorova, who earned 46.89% of the votes as the nominee of a left-wing coalition led by the Sofia Chapter of the Bulgarian Socialist Party. Grigorova is appealing Terziev's election before the Sofia City Administrative Court.

The borough mayors and municipal councillors of Sofia were also sworn in on Monday, pledging to obey the Bulgarian Constitution and the laws of the country. The borough mayors received election certificates from Municipal Election Commission Chair Polina Vitanova.

Vitanova listed the entities represented on the 61-member Sofia Municipal Council: Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (23 members), GERB-UDF (14), BSP for Bulgaria (9), Vazrazhdane (8), There Is Such a People (3), KOD (also 3) and VMRO-BND (1).

The Sofia Municipal Council failed to elect a chairman at its first sitting. The nominees were Boris Bonev (Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria), Diana Tonova (BSP for Bulgaria), Krassimir Galabov (Vazrazhdane) and Plamen Danailov (There Is Such a People).

Voting was held by secret ballot with paper ballots. Bonev was supported by 23 councillors, Galabov by eight, Danailov by three. There are four invalid ballots.

A second vote will be held between the two nominees with the largest number of votes.

/LG/