Bulgarian Parliament Elects Reformist as President, Paves Way for June Vote

SOFIA, Bulgaria —  The nation’s Parliament elected reformist Communist Petar Mladenov as president of a new, non-Communist republic Tuesday and cleared the way for free multi-party elections in June.

At the same time, the Communists renamed their disgraced party the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

Mladenov, who ousted hard-line Communist leader Todor Zhivkov last November, said he will resign from the party’s decision-making Supreme Council to steer the Balkan state toward democracy.

“The Bulgarian . . . party wants guarantees for a peaceful transition to democracy and also wants a man . . . who can provide those guarantees,” Mladenov told reporters before the National Assembly, dominated by the former Communists, unanimously elected him.

Mladenov, 53, took over as head of state last November after 35 years of Zhivkov rule, but until now he had presided over a Communist-style collective State Council. He also served until February as leader of the Communist Party.

Mladenov, a longtime foreign minister under Zhivkov, said in an acceptance speech that he will work for orderly elections and to establish market principles in Bulgaria’s crisis-hit economy, to draft the new constitution and clean up the environment.

His swearing-in was the chamber’s last act before it dissolved for elections June 10 and 17, which would usher in Bulgaria’s first freely elected Parliament in 45 years.

The elections will complete a series of multi-party elections in five East European states moving to Western-style democracy.

NEXT STEP

On June 10 and 17, Bulgaria will hold multi-party voting to choose its first freely elected Parliament in 45 years. The 400-member chamber’s main task will be to draft a new constitution. Bulgaria’s new president, Petar Mladenov, is expected to remain in his post for the life of the next legislature. After electing Mladenov president, Parliament dissolved itself. His successor will be elected by popular vote.