site.btaCivic Initiative Urges President Radev to Halt 51st Parliament, Seize Constitutional Court to Annul Election over Alleged Violations

A Civic Initiative for annulment of the elections for the 51st Parliament has submitted an open letter to President Rumen Radev, calling on him to seize the Constitutional Court regarding electoral violations from the October 27 snap parliamentary elections and to postpone convening the newly elected parliament, Civic Initiative said in a press release here on Monday.

"The Constitution allows the President up to 30 days to decree the convening of the new National Assembly. This period provides sufficient time for substantial evidence of election violations to be presented to the Constitutional Court," Civic Initiative representatives said. They argued that publicly available evidence points to violations that "deliberately distort the will of the voters." In light of information on manipulated and altered votes, the Initiative deems the election results declared by the Central Election Commission invalid, making the 51st Parliament illegitimate.

The Civic Initiative also addressed an open letter to the members of the 50th Parliament, urging them to file a petition with the Constitutional Court to investigate significant electoral violations and annul the October 27 parliamentary vote.

Earlier on Monday, the civic movement BOEC requested through six institutions that the Constitutional Court be seized to annul the election results. Lawyer Metodi Lalov told BTA that complaints have been filed with the National Assembly, the Presidency, the Council of Ministers, the two supreme courts, and the Prosecutor General, with backing from several MPs.

Representatives from various political parties have also raised the possibility of annulling the election.