site.btaUPDATED Acting Socialist Leader Withdraws Party Registration for Oct. 27 Elections to Register BSP-led Coalition

Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) acting leader Atanas Zafirov Tuesday withdrew the BSP registration for the October 27 snap parliamentary elections as a stand-alone party and shortly after that submitted papers for the registration of a BSP-led coalition. He also submitted 9,999 signatures in support of the coalition's registration.

Upon arrival for the withdrawal, he told the press that this move would allow "proper registration" of a Socialist-led coalition shortly, "according to the law, the rules, the party statute and the prior announcements". Hours later, as he came to the Central Election Commission to apply for the coalition's registration, he said, "Excited, full of optimism and hope, responding to the call of the time, responding to the historical moment, to the hopes of hundreds of thousands, I would even say millions of Bulgarian citizens for a real alternative, we registered a coalition of parties, BSP-United Left, which gives its clear, categorical statement for participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections and for an excellent result."

He said "excellent result" means a result that would allow the party to be "a social guarantor in the next parliament, a social guarantor of the Bulgarian legislation and why not the social guarantor in the next government".

On Monday, Ivan Chenchev and Georgi Svilenski of the circle of former BSP leader Korneliya Ninova submitted over 4,000 signatures and registered the party for the upcoming elections. The two had been authorized by Ninova to lead the election-related procedures.