site.btaPeevski Files Court Petition to Cement Role as Sole Chair of MRF

A petition has been filed to the Sofia City Court on behalf of Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Chair Delyan Peevski, requesting changes to the registration details of MRF, the court's press service told BTA on Tuesday. The application requests the removal of Dzhevdet Chakarov from his position as the party's chair and as a member of the Central Operational Bureau (COB), and the registration of new members to the MRF's COB.

The court is currently reviewing a petition by Chakarov to register changes to the MRF's registration details, as decided in a COB meeting. Another petition, which seeks to register the party's Central Council decisions, is also under review. Once these are resolved, Peevski's application will be addressed.

On September 23, the Central Council of the MRF approved the COB's decisions from August 27, which included expelling and removing eight people from the party's leadership.

Peevski and Chakarov were co-chairs of the MRF until it split in two factions - one loyal to MRF founder and Honorary Chairman Ahmed Dogan and another led by Peevski, back in July 2024. The faction loyal to Dogan ran in the October 27 parliamentary elections as the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF), a coalition registered by the Agrarian People's Union and the Just Bulgaria United Patriots. Peevski led the MRF-New Beginning and won 30 seats in the elections, while the ARF won 19 seats.

"From now on, MRF-New Beginning will have only one leader, myself. Dzhevdet Chakarov is no longer part of the leadership," said Delyan Peevski, leader of MRF-New Beginning, on November 16, speaking to journalists after the Central Council meeting. He said the participants decided "to expel all who excluded themselves from the party, who are now members of another coalition". "They lost the right to be part of the MRF," Peevski said, wishing them "success in their Agrarian project".