2001 Bulgarian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 17 June 2001.[1] The result was a victory for the National Movement – Simeon II, which won 120 of the 240 seats. Voter turnout was 66.3%. Following the elections, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the country's last Tsar from 1943 to 1946, became Prime Minister.[2]

2001 Bulgarian parliamentary election

17 June 2001
All 240 seats in the National Assembly 121 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	66.3%
Party Leader % Seats ± NDSV Simeon Sakskoburggotski 42.7 120 New ODS Ivan Kostov 18.2 51 -86 KB Georgi Parvanov 17.1 48 -10 DPS Ahmed Dogan 7.4 21 +2 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Ivan Kostov ODS Simeon Sakskoburggotski NDSV

Background

The elections came four years after the last parliamentary elections in 1997, marking the first occasion since the fall of Communism that a full term had been completed.[2] A total of 65 parties registered for the elections, together with eleven independents.[2]

National Movement – Simeon II was originally prevented from registering by Sofia City Court as it failed to meet the Central Election Committee's requirements. However, after forming an alliance with the Bulgarian Women's Party and the Movement for National Revival, the party was allowed to register.[2]

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
National Movement Simeon II	1,952,513	42.74	120	New
United Democratic Forces	830,338	18.18	51	−86
Coalition for Bulgaria	783,372	17.15	48	−10
Movement for Rights and Freedoms	340,395	7.45	21	+2
VMRO-George's Day Movement	165,927	3.63	0	New
Simeon II Coalition	157,141	3.44	0	New
National Union for Tsar Simeon II	77,671	1.70	0	New
Bulgarian Social Democracy	44,637	0.98	0	0
Union Bulgaria	33,637	0.74	0	New
Coalition "National Union Tzar Kiro"	27,636	0.60	0	New
NU Fatherland and Left	21,851	0.48	0	New
George Ganchev's Bloc	17,272	0.38	0	New
UAF-BAPU-BAPU NP	15,504	0.34	0	0
Bulgarian Workers' Party	12,579	0.28	0	New
Democratic Party of Justice	10,822	0.24	0	0
Bulgarian Socialist Workers' Party	10,797	0.24	0	0
Bulgarian Communist Party "Fatherland"	9,373	0.21	0	New
Patriotism 2000	6,077	0.13	0	New
Union of Patriotic Forces and Militaries of the Reserve Defense	5,227	0.11	0	New
Bulgarian Democratic Party for United States of Europe and the World	4,804	0.11	0	0
MDRUSWC-FPFB	4,740	0.10	0	New
Bulgarian National Party "Social Union"	4,439	0.10	0	New
Alternative Social-Liberal Party	4,267	0.09	0	New
Free Cooperative Party	3,935	0.09	0	0
Bulgarian National-Radical Party	3,018	0.07	0	0
Social Liberal Movement "Justice"	2,715	0.06	0	New
National Movement for New Era	2,462	0.05	0	New
Patriotic Party of Labour	1,601	0.04	0	New
Alliance for Preservation of the Wealth of Bulgaria	1,414	0.03	0	New
Party of the Workers' and Social Democratic Intelligentsia	1,033	0.02	0	New
Bulgarian Fatherland Party "National Union"	623	0.01	0	New
NPLPOPC	524	0.01	0	New
Bulgarian National Front	202	0.0	0	New
Bulgarian Business Bloc	162	0.0	0	−12
Party of the Middle Class	79	0.0	0	New
Union of the Nation – Movement of the Deprived	39	0.0	0	New
Independents	9,365	0.21	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	39,944	–	–	–
Total	4,608,135	100	240	0
Registered voters/turnout	6,916,151	66.63	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, University of Essex

Aftermath

Following the elections, Simeon Sakskoburggotski became Prime Minister and formed the Sakskoburggotski Government.

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p.369 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Bulgaria: Elections held in 2001 Inter-Parliamentary Union