wh y w e l o s t
28
part of the divided center right is the new party, DSB. The results of the June 2005 parlia-
mentary elections – after which the BSP formed a new government along with NMSII and
MRF – showed that the divided center right placed behind not only all three of these, but
also behind the radical nationalist ATAKA.
As far as the long-term future is concerned, it may well be that the level of support
manifested by UDF proponents in 1996 will be required again. The main adversary
will again be BSP, but this time the conflict will be waged against Socialist President
Parvanov who is seeking reelection in 2006. The political context will be very different,
however, with Bulgaria firmly on the way into NATO and the EU. However, the stakes
will be as high as they were ten years ago, namely, to avoid the prospect of a Bulgarian
future dominated by BSP.
APPENDIX:
List of Major Parties and Their Acronyms*
Allied Democratic Forces – ADF
Bulgarian Agrarian Popular Union - BAPU
Bulgarian Communist Party - BCP
Bulgarian Socialist Party – BSP
Democrats for Stronger Bulgaria – DSB
Movement for Rights and Freedoms- MRF
National Movement Simeon II - NMSII
People’s Union - PU
Union of Democratic Forces - UDF
Union of Free Democrats - UFD
*Throughout this publication the native acronyms of party names are used. The only exception is the
case of Bulgaria where due to transcript from the Cyrillic, we opted for generally accepted English
acronyms.
Relevant election results
(% of votes, major parties only)
Party/Coalition
1990 1991 1994 1997 2001
Bulgarian Communist Party
BCP
0.7 1.5 1.3
Bulgarian Socialist Party
BSP 47.2 33.1 43.5 22.4 17.1
National Movement Popular Simeon II NMSII
42.7
Bulgarian Agrarian Union
BAPU 6.0 7.3
People‘s Union
PU
6.5
Union of Democratic Forces
UDF 36.2 34.4 24.2
Allied Democratic Forces
ADF
49.2 18.2
Movement for Rights and Freedoms
MRF 8.0 7.6 5.4 9.4 7.5
