2006 Bulgarian presidential election

2006 Bulgarian presidential election
← 2001 22 October 2006 (first round)
29 October 2006 (second round)		 2011 →
Turnout44.11% (first round), 42.62% (second)
 
Nominee Georgi Parvanov Volen Siderov
Party BSP Ataka
Running mate Angel Marin Pavel Shopov [bg]
Popular vote 2,050,488 649,387
Percentage 75.95% 24.05%
President before election

Georgi Parvanov
BSP

Elected President

Georgi Parvanov
BSP

Presidential elections were held in Bulgaria on 22 October 2006, as decided on 27 July 2006 by the Bulgarian Parliament.[1] The runoff took place on 29 October 2006, while the electoral campaign spanned 19 September – 20 October. At the election, Georgi Parvanov won his second and final term as President of Bulgaria.

Some of the right-wing parties were disunited at the time but still chose to support a common candidate, Nedelcho Beronov. Prime minister and head of the Socialist Party Sergey Stanishev expressed his strong support for the current president, Georgi Parvanov, in July 2006,[2] and Parvanov officially stated his desire to run for a second term on 25 August 2006.[3] He was also backed by the other two members of the then ruling Triple coalition – NDSV and DPS.

In the first round, incumbent Georgi Parvanov received 64% of the vote, ahead of nationalist leader Volen Siderov who came second with 21.5%.[4] However, Parvanov was forced into a runoff with Siderov, as Bulgarian law requires a turnout of 50% for a president to be elected in the first round.[5] Turnout for the first round was 42.51%.[6] The defeated right-wing forces called for abstention, while some far-left formations[citation needed] expressed their support for Siderov.

The second round saw Parvanov win a decisive victory with 75.9% as opposed to Siderov's 24.1%,[7] meaning that Parvanov became the first person to be democratically re-elected as President of Bulgaria.[8] The turnout was 41.21%.[6]

  1. ^ Darik.net (27 July 2006). "На 22 октомври гласуваме за президент, реши парламентът". Netinfo. Retrieved 22 October 2006.
  2. ^ Yotova, Boryana (28 July 2006). "Станишев: Победата на Първанов е важна за утвърждаване на кабинета" (in Bulgarian). Mediapool. Retrieved 22 October 2006.
  3. ^ "Инициативен комитет издигна кандидатурата на Георги Първанов за втори президентски мандат" (in Bulgarian). President.bg. 25 August 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2006.
  4. ^ "Elections 2006: Final results for the country according to the Central Electoral Commission for the President and Vice President Elections" (in Bulgarian). Izbori2006.org. Archived from the original on 26 November 2006. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
  5. ^ "Bulgaria's Parvanov wins 1st round presidential poll". Reuters. 22 October 2006. Archived from the original on 31 March 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2006.
  6. ^ a b "Elections 2006: Voter turnout for the country as of 7 pm" (in Bulgarian). Izbori2006.org. Archived from the original on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2006.
  7. ^ "Elections 2006: Final results for the country according to the Central Electoral Commission for the President and Vice President Elections" (in Bulgarian). Izbori2006.org. Archived from the original on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2006.
  8. ^ Zhelyu Zhelev, although having served two terms, was elected as a president not by popular vote, but by the National Assembly for his first term.