National Assembly (Bulgaria)

The Bulgarian National Assembly was established in 1879 with the Tarnovo Constitution. From 1881 to 1883, under the Regime of Full Powers of Prince Alexander I, it was replaced by an appointed State Council of Bulgaria. The unicameral legislature provided by the Tarnovo Constitution, while favored by the historical liberals, drew the ire of the conservatives who proposed to replace it with a bicameral parliament.

During the communist period between 1946 and 1989, the National Assembly was characterized as a rubber stamp for the Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP) or as only being able to affect issues of low sensitivity and salience to the Bulgarian communist regime. The BCP controlled nomination and election processes at every level in its political system, allowing it to stamp out any opposition. As a legacy of the communist-era system of government, where the National Assembly was constitutionally defined as the supreme organ of state power and only branch of government, government ministers are formally appointed and dismissed by the Assembly on prime ministerial advice (rather than the President on prime ministerial advice, as in other parliamentary systems) even after the transition to democracy.

Three types of candidates participate in the elections: parties, coalitions and independent candidates. Every citizen who has the right to vote can do so for one candidate. The ratio of the number of valid votes for the candidate relative to the total number of valid votes gives the candidate the support of voters. The Central Election Commission is the institution responsible for all elections in the country.

The National Assembly is composed of parliamentary groups and independent members, with parliamentary groups representing a political party, and they, in turn, represent their voters.

Since constitutional changes enacted in 2023, the constitution now states that a dissolved parliament continues to function until the new tenure of the National Assembly is constituted (previously, once a parliament was dissolved the deputies automatically lost their mandates, and the National Assembly could not convene).^[1]

By the Constitution (Art. 62 to 91), The National Assembly consists of 240 members elected for a four-year term, elected by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies. Political parties must garner a minimum of 4% of the national vote in order to enter the Assembly. Bulgaria has a multi-party system. In order to be eligible as an MP, one must be a Bulgarian citizen over the age of 21 years who is neither interdicted nor is serving a custodial sentence. Bulgarian citizens with dual nationality must be resident in Bulgaria during the last eighteen months before their election; this residency requirement does not apply to Bulgarian citizens without dual nationality.

The National Assembly is responsible for enactment of laws, approval of the state budget, scheduling of presidential elections, selection and dismissal of the Prime Minister and other ministers, declaration of war, concluding peace and deployment of troops outside Bulgaria, declares a state of war or other state of emergency on the proposal of the President or the Cabinet, grants amnesty, and ratification of international treaties and agreements. It is headed and presided by the Chairperson of the National Assembly of Bulgaria.

The Assembly administers the publication of the State Gazette, Bulgaria's gazette of record.

In addition to the ordinary National Assembly, a Grand National Assembly (Велико народно събрание, Veliko narodno sabranie) may be convened for matters of special jurisdiction, such as: 1) Adoption of a new Constitution; 2) Amendment of certain articles of the Constitution, e.g. those related with the basic civil rights; 3) Changes in the territory (gain or loss) of the Republic, etc. Before the World War II the Grand National Assembly was also competent in electing the Regency of the Bulgarian Kingdom if the tzar had not come to age. The First and the Third Grand National Assemblies also elected the first two Bulgarian monarchs after the liberation from Ottoman rule – Prince (Knjaz) Alexander Battenberg and Prince (Knjaz) Ferdinand Saxe Coburg-Gotha.

As an organ, the Grand National Assembly was introduced with the Tarnovo Constitution of 1879, abolished in 1947 and reintroduced with the 1991 constitution. In different constitutional provisions, it was constituted by a different number of representatives. According to the 1991 Constitution, it consists of 400 deputies (as opposed to 240 in the ordinary one). The 1991 Constitution was adopted by the Seventh Grand National Assembly and was composed of 200 members being elected by proportional representation and the other 200 under a first-past-the-post voting system. The Constitution provides that the elections for Grand National Assembly shall be conducted in the same manner as those for the Ordinary National Assembly.

A qualified majority of 2/3 during three voting procedures on separate dates is required for a decision to be made. The Grand National Assembly can also serve as an ordinary National Assembly, taking care of regular legislative activities in urgent cases only. After it has concluded its work on the matter for which it was elected, the Grand National Assembly is dissolved ex lege and the President of the Republic shall appoint elections for an ordinary National Assembly.

A total of seven Grand National Assemblies have been in operation in Bulgaria, the last one from 10 July 1990 to 12 July 1991 adopting the current constitution.

The National Assembly's main building has been proclaimed a monument of culture for its historic significance. Situated in downtown Sofia, it was designed in the Neo-Renaissance style by Konstantin Jovanović.

Due to insufficient space in the main building at Parliament Square, the National Assembly is now housed by the former headquarters of the Bulgarian Communist Party, located at the Largo - the so-called Party House. Initially, only administrative offices have been relocated, but proposals to convert it into an interior space for the plenary chamber have been made since 1996, with the relocation taking place in 2020.^[5][3] After the April 2021 Bulgarian parliamentary election, the National Assembly moved again to the old Parliament House because ITN, Democratic Bulgaria, ISMV, and DPS viewed the Party House building as a symbol of Bulgaria's communist past.^[6]

• Chairperson of the National Assembly of Bulgaria
• Politics of Bulgaria
• List of legislatures by country