site.btaVelichie Holds Second Protest in Sofia over Election Results

Supporters of the Velichie (Grandeur) party staged a protest in front of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) in downtown Sofia on Monday evening after holding a rally in the capital in the morning. In the second demonstration, people carried Bulgarian national flags and complained that the party’s votes were stolen during the October 27 early parliamentary elections.

Velichie fell just 21 votes short of the 4% threshold for entering the National Assembly.

Party leader Ivelin Mihaylov told the crowd that the Constitutional Court has instituted a case on their petition to annul the elections fully or partially and is expected to rule on it early in January.

Former MP Krasimira Katincharova argued that the new parliament, inaugurated earlier in the day, is illegitimate. She noted that electing a parliament leader is very important because she or he will determine the nation’s agenda and will likely become prime minister in a caretaker government in the event of new snap elections. “The behind-the-scenes machinations which are dictating this country’s affairs are aimed to keep Velichie out of parliament,” Katincharova said.

Police provided security for the Velichie demonstration. Generally, police presence outside the National Assembly and the BNB was beefed up on a day that saw seven public protests in Sofia occasioned by the inauguration of the 51st National Assembly.

At the morning protest of the party, Mihaylov told journalists: "We are here for a free and democratic State, we want equal rights for all, not someone to buy the people's vote." Velichie circulated a declaration which claimed that the elections were “unfair, rigged, and bought,” and the vote was “supplanted and brazenly stolen.” According to the declaration, the protesting supporters of Velichie do not accept the election outcome.