site.btaParliamentary Form of Government Has Been without Alternative since Tarnovo Constitution - Parliament Chair

The first Bulgarian Constitution was adopted in Tarnovo (present-day Veliko Tarnovo) on April 16, 1879, marking the birth of Bulgarian constitutionalism, Parliament Chair Nataliya Kiselova said here on Wednesday. Since the Tarnovo Constitution, the parliamentary form of government in Bulgaria has remained without alternative, she added. Kiselova addressed the MPs in Parliament on occasion of Bulgaria's Constitution and Lawyers’ Day.

She added that the Tarnovo Constitution remains the most democratic of its time, noting that Bulgaria has since adopted four basic laws. 

Kiselova recalled that this country’s current Constitution was adopted by the 7th Grand National Assembly in 1991, reaffirming the republican form of governance. She added that the 1991 Constitution introduced the democratic principles of popular sovereignty, separation of powers, the rule of law and the idea of a welfare state. “Thanks to it, Bulgaria became a full-fledged member of the Council of Europe and the European Union,” Kiselova noted.

In her words, over 20 years of constitutional amendments have shown that seeking consensus among parliamentary groups has been a supreme principle that guarantees the success of these revisions.

“Let us not forget the aspiration of the framers of the Constitution - that we express the will of the Bulgarian people, without questioning the place of our homeland and its people within the universal human values of freedom, peace, humanism, equality, and tolerance,” Kiselova said. “As legislators, we must uphold constitutional values in the decades to come. Each of us ask ourselves whether we realize that it is our duty to defend national interests and build a democratic state governed by the rule of law, and whether we are ready to preserve our traditions and values, our historical memory and national identity without sacrificing the right of Bulgarian citizens to be part of a free European and democratic society,” Kiselova said.