site.btaRadostin Vasilev, Yuliana Mateeva Elected as Deputy National Assembly Chairs

Radostin Vasilev from the Moral, Unity, Honour (MECh) parliamentary group and Yuliana Mateeva from Velichie were elected as deputy chairs of the 51st National Assembly on Thursday.

Vasilev received 152 votes in support from GERB-UDF, Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), Vazrazhdane, Democracy, Rights and Freedoms (DRF), There Is Such a People (TISP), MECh, and Velichie. A total of 42 MPs voted against him, including those from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning, BSP – United Left, and two TISP MPs. Vasilev was relieved of office as Deputy Chair of the National Assembly on March 21 after Parliament Chair Nataliya Kiselova announced the dissolution of his group due to it falling below the minimum number of members required to form a parliamentary group.

Mateeva was elected with 169 votes from GERB-UDF, CC-DB, Vazrazhdane, BSP – United Left, DRF, TISP, MECh, and Velichie. Twenty-five MPs voted against her, including those from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning and one from BSP – United Left. The elected Members of Parliament from the Velichie party were sworn in on March 19 following a ruling by the Constitutional Court, which determined that Velichie would enter the 51st National Assembly with ten MPs and 16 MPs from various political parties would lose their seats due to being unlawfully elected in the October 2024 parliamentary elections.