Sofia city council again fails to elect council chairperson
The seventh sitting of Sofia city council, held on January 25 2024, again failed to elect a council chairperson, though a further attempt was scheduled for later in the day after two rounds of voting did not produce a winner.
Elected on October 29 2023, Sofia city council failed at sittings on November 13, 20, 30, December 7 and 18 and January 11, to elect a chairperson, a step essential for the council to be able to transact business.
At the January 25 sitting, the We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria-Spasi Sofia group nominated a new candidate, Tsvetomir Petrov, while the Bulgarian Socialist Party group again nominated Diana Tonova and ITN nominated Plamen Danailov.
The election of a council chairperson requires at least 31 votes in the 61-seat council.
Fifty-eight councillors attended the sitting.
In the first round, Petrov got 23 votes, Tonova nine and Danailov four, sending Petrov and Tonova to a second round, in which Petrov got 26 votes and Tonova again nine.
The GERB-UDF group, which has said that it would be in opposition, abstained from voting.
Two hours of talks after the voting failed to produce a solution. The council will meet again on February 8.
Failure to elect a chairperson means that the city council cannot proceed to transact business, including debating and voting on the proposed Sofia municipal budget for 2024.
The draft budget 2.57 billion leva budget was published on the municipality’s website on January 17, with a one-month deadline for comments and proposed amendments.
(Photo: Sofia municipality)
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