Bulgaria

Abstract

To begin with, the change from communist rule took place smoothly in Bulgaria and the transition was even described as a ‘gentle revolution’. The veteran communist leader, Todor Zhivkov, in power since 1954 as party chief and since 1971 as president of the republic, was forced to resign when a majority of the members of the Party Presidium led by Petar Mladenov, Foreign Minister since 1971, turned against him in November 1989. Mladenov was then appointed to replace Zhivkov in both offices. Mladenov was soon confronted with mass demonstrations demanding the end of the single-party system and free elections. He responded at first by appointing as prime minister Andrey Lukanov, a communist leader with a reputation of reformer under the Zhivkov regime who had been removed from the council of ministers in 1987. The opposition, recently united as the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), was not convinced and demonstrations continued. Mladenov had no alternative but to announce the end of the single-party system and the introduction of free elections. The name of the Bulgarian Communist Party was changed to Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Negotiations began between the former communists and the opposition at the ‘round table talks’ over a wide range of economic and political issues, including the forthcoming parliamentary elections and the format of the new constitutional assembly.