By Petia Gueorguieva, New Bulgarian Univeristy

Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) held its 51^st Congress on 15-16 of February 2025. The Congress is the party’s highest permanent body, elected for a four-year term. It is composed of local organizations’ delegates, party leadership and deputies. To 51^st Congress, 917 delegates have been nominated, and 872 registered on 15 February 2025, including 43% women and 57% men.

The 51^st Congress takes place in challenging times for the party, as its mere survival is at stake following the long-lasting and steady decline since 2009. Over the years, BSP has changed its leadership, programme and statutes, but failed to modernize, renovate and to offer a progressive left alternative to Bulgarian voters and to enlarge its support.

On the contrary, under the leadership of Kornelia Ninova (2016-2024), the BSP suffered splits, internal “wars” between factions and has been transformed into personalized leader party. Critics have been either silenced or expelled from the party. For instance, in February 2023 during the 50^th Congress, 14 socialists including one MEP and members of the National council were excluded. In 2017 new party statues were adopted, providing for a direct selection of party president by all party members, abolishing the traditional practice according to which the Congress elects the party chair. New statutes introduced a limitation of mandates for elected party officials and deputies.

Bulgaria has been in protracted political crisis and has organized seven national elections from April 2021 to October 2024. The crisis along with the appearance of new challenger parties have precipitated the decline of BSP, which from main opposition and second parliamentary force has been reduced to fifth parliamentary place. Successive electoral defeats failed to trigger any substantial party change. After the “catastrophic” electoral results, the party leader Ninova announced twice her resignation in 2019, and then in 2021, but she managed to stay at the top position. In September 2020, she ran the first intraparty direct leader election, which she won by an overwhelming majority of party members votes, leaving competitors far behind.

June 2024’s early elections led to another electoral debacle for BSP. The coalition “BSP for Bulgaria” received only 151 560 votes (6,85%) and won 19 seats in the 240 members parliament. Moreover, the party obtained only two MEPs in 2024 European elections, losing three out of the five seats it had in the European Parliament elected in 2019. Consequently, the intraparty opposition and especially the Youth organization pushed Ninova to resign. She has been expelled from the party.  The National council has designated the deputy chairman Atanas Zafirov as an interim president of BSP and Borislav Gutsanov at the leadership of the party parliamentary group in the 49^th parliament elected in June 2024.

The “post-Ninova” BSP hasn’t achieved an electoral surge at the seventh parliamentary elections held on 27 of October 2024. The coalition “BSP – United Left” received 184 403 votes (7,32%) and 20 MPs. However, the new party leadership has broken with the main party’s strategy of never forming a coalition with Citizens for European development of Bulgaria (GERB). Thus, BSP joined the three-party governmental coalition formed by GERB with the populist party “There is Such a People!”. The new government led by PM Rosen Jeliazkov (GERB) is approved by parliament on January 16^th, 2025. The BSP has four ministries – Labour and Social Affairs; Environment and Waters; Youth and Sports, and Regional Development and Public Works. The party interim president Atanas Zafirov is nominated Deputy Prime minister. 

The main tasks of the 51^st Congress are the election of the new party chair and new national party’s bodies. But the most important task is to put an end of internal “wars” and to consolidate the organization. The National council proposed to Congress several amendments of party statutes. Consequently, the abrogation of the direct leader selection by all party members has been supported by vast majority of delegates. On the contrary, Congress has rejected the proposal to abolish the limitation of number of mandates for elected positions. Moreover, the delegates have approved the proposal to change the designation “President of the Party” to “President of the National Council” of BSP to underline the collegial party.

The abolition of the direct election of party leader by all members allowed the Congress to proceed with the selection of new president. Initially 17 candidates received nominations and registered to run for the position but a great number of them gradually withdrew their candidacy. Eventually, seven candidates ran the first round on February 16^th. The biggest number of delegates’ votes received the interim party president and deputy PM Atanas Zafirov and the minister of Labour and Social Affairs Borislav Gutsanov. Zafirov won the second round with 422 votes against Gutsanov who received 365 votes. The Congress has elected the new National Council and Control Commission. A new executive bureau is taking place too.

The 51^st Congress of BSP has discussed a document “New guidelines for the development of BSP”. According to it, the party must clearly define its direction to democratic socialism of the 21st century and to find the pathway toward its revival as a major national political force.

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Petia Gueorgieva is a senior professor in the Department of Political Science of the New Bulgarian University. Her researches focus on Central and Eastern Europe politics and parties, the process of europeanization and democratization.