Eight Elections, Three Governments: How Bulgaria Got Stuck for Five Years
Bulgaria held eight parliamentary elections between 2021 and 2026 that produced only three short-lived governments, as President Radev repeatedly exercised constitutional powers to appoint caretaker cabinets and dissolve parliament, while voter turnout collapsed to its lowest level since 1990.
- 1Bulgaria held eight parliamentary elections between April 2021 and May 2026, with only three short-lived regular governments formed during this period.
- 2President Rumen Radev appointed at least five caretaker governments using constitutional powers under Article 98, until December 2023 reforms restricted this authority.
- 3Voter turnout collapsed from 52.57% in 2017 to 33.4% in June 2024, the lowest since 1990.
- 4OSCE observers noted the president and caretaker governments played a 'prominent part' in electoral campaigns.
- 5Opposition politician Assen Vassilev accused Radev of 'regular meetings' with GERB leader Boyko Borisov and coordination between the caretaker cabinet and GERB.
The Full Investigation
4 sections · 4 min read
Repeated Elections and Government Formation Failures
According to Wikipedia, Bulgaria held up to eight parliamentary elections in a period Wikipedia dates from April 2021 through a projected May 2026 vote. The June 9, 2024 vote was the sixth parliamentary election in three years, according to Politico and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Only three short-lived governments formed during this crisis period, according to Wikipedia: the Petkov, Denkov, and Zhelyazkov administrations. The Congressional Research Service reports that Kiril Petkov led a coalition government comprising We Continue the Change (PP), the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), There Is Such a People (ITN), and Democratic Bulgaria (DB) from December 2021 to August 2022. Balkan Insight reports that Nikolai Denkov led a short regular cabinet from 2023 to 2024.
Coalition negotiations between GERB and the PP-DB alliance failed in March 2024 when Mariya Gabriel withdrew after prolonged negotiations, according to Politico. Despite being the sixth election in three years, the June 2024 elections still returned a fragmented parliament, according to Inter-Parliamentary Union data. The Bertelsmann Transformation Index reports that Bulgaria resolved political crises through snap elections rather than coalition building, leading to prolonged instability.
Open: Whether Radev's interventions causally contributed to the political deadlock or represented responses to legislative failures beyond his control; What alternative strategies, if any, Radev considered for coalition facilitation beyond caretaker appointments and repeated elections
Declining Voter Participation
Voter turnout declined sharply across successive elections. According to Wikipedia data, turnout fell from 52.57% in 2017 to 33.4% in June 2024, described as the lowest since 1990. The Inter-Parliamentary Union reports that the June 2024 election recorded 34% turnout, down from 40% in 2023. (The slight discrepancy between Wikipedia's 33.4% and IPU's 34% appears attributable to rounding differences, as both sources report the same underlying decline.)
The Bertelsmann Transformation Index reports that Bulgaria ranked third in Europe for caretaker government frequency with eight caretaker governments in recent years.
Open: Whether voter turnout decline resulted from election fatigue, disillusionment with all political actors, or other factors
Controversies Over Presidential Role
OSCE election observers noted that the president and caretaker government played a 'prominent part' in the electoral campaign, according to Freedom House reporting on OSCE findings.
On December 4, 2022, PP co-leader Assen Vassilev accused President Radev of 'regular meetings' with GERB leader Boyko Borisov, noting a 'level of coordination' between the caretaker cabinet and GERB, according to Wikipedia. The dossier contains no recorded response or denial from Radev or Borisov to this unverified opposition allegation reported by a single source. Vassilev called Radev the 'chief reason' for Bulgaria's non-ascension into Schengen, according to the same source. Deutsche Welle reports that Radev characterized parliament as 'discredited' when it proved unable to form a government.
In 2024, President Radev refused to appoint a new caretaker government proposed by Goritsa Kozhareva, according to Euractiv. Euractiv reports that Radev's refusal indefinitely postponed the formation of a regular government and snap elections. Euractiv reports that Radev cited concerns about Interior Minister nominee Kalin Stoyanov's alleged ties to sanctioned oligarch Delyan Peevski as justification for refusing to appoint the caretaker government. These ties are an unproven allegation cited by Radev as his justification; the dossier contains no confirmation of the ties nor a response from Stoyanov.
In the assessment of the Groupe d'études géopolitiques, a think tank, President Radev became the most influential political figure in Bulgaria through caretaker cabinet appointments during 2021-2023, and the president's activism during the crisis 'often violated the spirit of the constitution.' These characterizations represent contested analytical judgments by the research institution; no court has made such a finding.
Open: Whether the constitutional reforms limiting presidential power were responses to specific abuses or precautionary measures