Bulgaria’s electoral commission refuses rival MRF factions registration as coalitions

Bulgaria’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) decided unanimously on September 9 to refuse to register the two rival factions of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms as coalitions for the country’s October 27 early parliamentary elections.

The two coalitions that had sought to register are Delyan Peevski’s Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning and MRF founder and honorary president Ahmed Dogan’s MRF – Democracy, Rights and Freedoms.

Bulgarian election law forbids a party to be registered as part of more than electoral coalition.

The CEC had given the two coalitions until 5pm on September 7 to show that the MRF was not part of their respective coalitions. Both refused to submit documents to this end.

A week earlier, the two submitted applications to register, including two different bank accounts, but with the same account holder – the MRF. This is grounds for disqualification.

The September 9 vote by the CEC was on two separate reports. In both cases, the vote was 15 in favour and none against.

At the weekend, it was reported that the MRF faction around Dogan had intended to take to court the CEC decision of last week to register the two factions simultaneously without assigning numbers to th applications, but it subsequently emerged that the Dogan faction had withdrawn this court application.

A Dogan loyalist, MRF MEP Ilhan Kyuchuk, told local media at the weekend that he had seen proof that Peevski ever had become a member of the MRF.

Peevski remains registered in Parliament as leader of the MRF parliamentary group, but the Dogan MRF has announced that Peevski has been expelled from the party and as its national co-leader.

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