Participation of the PABSEC Delegation in the Observation of the Parliamentary Elections in the Republic of Bulgaria, Sofia, 2 October 2022

The PABSEC Delegation, composed of Mr. Musa Guliyev, member of the PABSEC Azerbaijani Delegation, Chairman of the PABSEC Cultural, Educational and Social Affairs Committee, Mr. Ramaz Nikolaishvili, member of the PABSEC Georgian Delegation and Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, PABSEC Secretary General, took part in the observation mission for parliamentary elections in Sofia (Republic of Bulgaria) on 2 October 2022. The Delegation was accompanied by Mrs. Pavlina Lozanova, Secretary of the PABSEC Legal and Political Affairs Committee.

On Election Day, the monitoring delegation visited several polling stations in different districts of Sofia. A common assessment of the PABSEC Delegation was that the elections had been well organized, and all the regulations had been strictly followed. The election process had passed without any significant incidents and the parliamentary elections were held in a democratic and transparent way.

According to preliminary evaluations, around 39 % of voters cast their ballots. The electoral threshold for the parties was 4%.

According to the preliminary results, the Political party “GERB-Union of Democratic Forces” received 25,3 % of the votes. The second was “We Continue the Change” with 20,2 % of the votes. The Political party “Movement for Rights and Freedom” – with 13,8 % - took the third position. The Political party “Revival” gained 10.2% and the Coalition “BSP - For Bulgaria” got 9.3 %. The right Party “Democratic Bulgaria” got the sixth place with 7.4%. The Political party “Bulgarian Rise” got 4.6% of the voters.

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In the framework of the PABSEC Monitoring Mission to the parliamentary elections in Sofia, on 3 October 2022, the PABSEC Secretary General met with Mr. Petar Kanev, Chairman of the PABSEC Economic, Commercial and Financial Affairs Committee.

According to preliminary data, Mr. Petar Kanev was elected member of the Bulgarian Parliament and Mr. Hajiyev congratulated him on his election.

The PABSEC Secretary General and Mr. Petar Kanev discussed the current activities of the Assembly and exchanged information on the PABSEC events, in the second half of 2022. The Secretary General informed Mr. Petar Kanev about the organizational and preparatory work for the 60th General Assembly, to be held in December 2022, in the Republic of Serbia.   

Mr. Petar Kanev expressed his support for the activities of the PABSEC and highly appreciated the work of the PABSEC International Secretariat. He underlined that the Republic of Bulgaria attaches great importance to its participation in the PABSEC and expressed the readiness for continuing the fruitful cooperation within the Assembly.