51st National Assembly 51-то Народно събрание
History
Founded	November 11, 2024 (2024-11-11)
Preceded by	50th National Assembly
Leadership
Speaker	Nataliya Kiselova (BSP-OL)
Deputy Speakers	Raya Nazaryan (GERB–SDS) Atanas Atanasov (PP–DB) Tsoncho Ganev (Revival) Dragomir Stoynev (BSP-OL) Hayri Sadukov (APS) Nikoleta Kuzmanova (ITN) Radostin Vasilev (MECh)
Structure
Seats	240
Political groups	GERB—SDS (69)   PP-DB (37)   Revival (35)   DPS-NN (30)   BSP-OL (20)   APS (19)   ITN (18)   MECh (12)
Meeting place
"The Party House", Sofia
Website
parliament.bg

The Fifty First National Assembly (Bulgarian: Петдесет и първото народно събрание) is a convocation of the National Assembly of Bulgaria, formed according to the results of the snap parliamentary elections in Bulgaria, held on 27 October 2024.^[1]

The opening session of the 51st National Assembly, as per tradition, was chaired by the oldest MP, Silvi Kirilov from ITN, who had also chaired the opening session of the preceding parliament.^[2]

5 candidacies were presented for the Speakership in the first attempt to elect a speaker: former Speaker of the 50th National Assembly, Raya Nazaryan, from GERB-SDS, former Minister of Regional Development and PP-DB MP Andrey Tsekov, Revival MP Petar Petrov, BSP MP Natalia Kiselova, and ITN MP Nikoleta Kuzmanova.^[3] During the voting, most parliamentary groups voted along party lines, with the exception of MECh and APS, who voted in support of all candidates with the exception of Nazaryan, while DPS-NN voted against all the candidates.^[4] Ultimately, Raya Nazaryan and Andrey Tsekov proceeded into a second round, in which neither candidate managed to gain the necessary support for a majority.^[4] Following the failure of the first attempt to elect a speaker, ITN representative Toshko Yordanov called for the election of the oldest MP, Silvi Kirilov, as a temporary Chairman in order to enable the function of the National Assembly, as had previously occurred with the election of Vezhdi Rashidov in the 48th National Assembly.^[4]

A second attempt at electing a speaker was scheduled for the 13 November.^[5] The same 5 candidates were nominated, indicating that no deal had been made between the political parties in the preceding day.^[6] All the candidates received a similar number of votes as to the first attempt, with neither Nazaryan nor Tsekov being able to gain the votes necessary for a majority.^[7]

A third attempt was undertaken on the 15th of November with a similar outcome, although, unlike in prior rounds, ITN nominated Silvi Kirilov (who had been chairing the proceedings as the oldest MP) and MECh changed their position from voting in favour of all non-GERB candidates to abstaining.^[8]

On the 20th of November, a fourth attempt to elect a speaker was undertaken. Prior to the vote, PP-DB announced that they would withdraw the candidacy of Andrey Tsekov and instead support the candidacy of Silvi Kirilov from ITN.^[9] Thus, four candidacies were initially nominated: Raya Nazaryan from GERB-SDS, Petar Petrov from Revival, Natalia Kiselova from BSP - OL and Silvi Kirilov from ITN.^[10] Presenting the candidacy of Kirilov, ITN MP, Toshko Yordanov, implied that the selection of Kirilov may also enable a change in the current Caretaker Government and allow for the operation of parliament until a stable majority is formed.^[10] In the vote for the candidacies, a notable split was noted within the PP-DB group, with most MPs belonging to PP voting for the candidacy, while those belonging to Yes, Bulgaria! and DSB abstaining.^[10] Kirilov ultimately gained 67 votes in the first round, assuring his participation in a second round against Raya Nazaryan who gained 69 votes.^[10] In the 2nd round, Silvi Kirilov received 101 votes, which fell short of a majority.^[10]

The fifth attempt to elect a speaker took place on the 22nd of November, with the same 4 candidates being nominated.^[11] Following the nomination of the candidates, heated debate took place between, primarily, representatives of ITN and Vazrazdhane on the one hand, and representatives of Yes, Bulgaria! and the BSP on the other.^[11] The former accused the two parties of blocking the functioning of the parliament and servicing the interests of Delyan Peevski and Boyko Borisov.^[11] The latter, on the other hand, pointed out that the election of a speaker should be contingent on the adoption of a clear legislative program, and further argued that electing Kirilov would absolve GERB of responsibility in the government formation process.^[11] During the debates, GERB leader, Boyko Borisov, made clear that he did not intend to withdraw the candidacy of Nazaryan.^[11] Due to the high tension caused by the debate, Acting Speaker Kirilov scheduled a 30 minute break before voting.^[12] The vote yielded a similar result as in the previous attempt 2 days ago, with Kirilov entering into a runoff with Nazaryan and receiving 101 votes in favour, while Nazaryan received 69.^[11]

On the 27th of November, a sixth attempt to elect a speaker took place, with the same 4 candidates nominated. Despite appeals by ITN figures to representatives from BSP, Yes, Bulgaria! and DSB, the vote ended up yielding a similar result, with Nazaryan receiving 69 votes, while Kirilov received 100 votes.^[13]

On the 28th of November, a seventh attempt to elect a speaker took place. The same 4 candidates as in previous rounds were initially nominated and received similar levels of support as in prior rounds, with Kirilov and Nazaryan proceeding to the second round.^[14] The debate became increasingly heated due to clashes between MPs from ITN and Revival on the one hand, and BSP, Yes, Bulgaria! and DSB on the other.^[14] Tensions became especially high during the speech of Revival leader, Kostadin Kostadinov, who called DB marginal and dangerous, leading to heckling by Yes, Bulgaria MP, Manol Peykov.^[14] The heated nature of debate led to a 30 minute break prior to the first voting round.^[14] During one of the breaks, Manol Peykov alleged that he was attacked by Revival MP, Slavcho Krumov.^[15] Following the first round, which yielded similar results, a long break was scheduled, during which MP Bozhidar Bozhanov claimed that representatives of the Democratic Bulgaria parties had agreed to support Kirilov as a concession to the current situation in parliament.^[14] During the vote, Kirilov initially received 118 votes, which ITN MP Toshko Yordanov argued constituted a majority as 234 MPs had registered on the opening day (albeit 238 MPs were present in the room during voting).^[14] This led to demands for a re-vote, during which, Kirilov received 117 votes, thus conclusively falling short of a majority.^[14]

On the 29th of November, one month after the 51st National Assembly was elected, the parliament undertook an 8th attempt to elect a speaker. Only three candidates were nominated in this attempt after GERB-SDS withdrew the candidacy of Raya Nazaryan: Petar Petrov from Revival, Natalia Kiselova from ITN, and Silvi Kirilov from ITN.^[16] During the first round vote, Kirilov once again received the support of MPs from PP, APS, ITN and MECh, meanwhile, Kiselova was supported by MPs from GERB and BSP; thus enabling the two candidates to enter a run-off.^[16] Prior to the runoff, representatives of DB lamented that they would not vote for either Kirilov or Kiselova, citing the failure of the previous attempt to elect Kirilov the previous day, as well as the fact that BSP had not signed PP-DBs declaration of a cordon sanitaire against DPS-NN.^[16] Ultimately, in the runoff both candidates fell short of a majority: with Kiselova receiving 87 votes in favour, while Kirilov received 99.^[16]

On the 4th of December, the parliament undertook a 9th attempt to elect a speaker. One new candidate was nominated, that being Atanas Atanasov from PP-DB.^[17] Ultimately, however, Atanasov did not enter the second round, and received only 56 votes, with a similar outcome to previous attempts in the subsequent runoff between Kiselova and Kirilov.^[17] The tenth attempt yielded a similar outcome, albeit Kiselova came close to the majority after DPS-NN voted in her favour, receiving 118 votes.^[18]

Finally, on the 6th of December, after BSP - United Left signed the PP-DB declaration promising a cordon sanitaire against DPS-NN, Natalia Kiselova was elected as speaker with 140 votes (from GERB, PP-DB, BSP-OL and APS).^[19]

7 deputy speakers were selected promptly after the election of Kiselova as speaker of the National Assembly from the Parliamentary Groups of GERB-SDS, PP-DB, BSP-OL, DRF, ITN and MECh.^[20] The election was boycotted by representatives of DPS-NN, who did not present their own candidate nor were present for the vote.

Three temporary parliamentary committees were formed during the tenure of the 50th National Assembly.

Traditionally, following the election of a speaker, a temporary committee was formed in order to review the parliament's rulebook.^[21] Hristo Gadzhev, from GERB, was elected with 165 votes, including all the MPs present from the GERB-SDS, PP-DB, DPS-NN, BSP-UL and DRF groups.^[21] Tsveta Rangelova (Revival) and Aleksandr Rashev (ITN), were similarly nominated, however did not receive support outside of their own parties and MECh.^[21]

A number of amendments were passed in the temporary rulebook committee including: the introduction of mandatory drug and alcohol tests prior to every legislative session, as well as at the initiative of the Speaker or 1/3 of MPs; expansion of the reasons for closed sessions of the National Assembly as well as the ability of MPs to retain their positions in higher education institutions. ^[22]

The formation of a temporary committee to investigate the reasons behind water scarcity in Bulgaria was presented by PP-DB MP, Bogdan Bogdanov on the 11th of December, citing that up to 250,000 Bulgarians were living in municipalities with ongoing water rationing.^[23] The formation of the commission was approved unanimously by the present MPs.^[23]

Three candidacies were presented for the position of chair of the commission: Bogdan Bogdanov (PP-DB), Kosta Stoyanov (Revival) and Manol Genov (BSP-OL).^[23] Ultimately, Manol Genov was elected chair of the commission with 123 votes, coming from the parliamentary groups of GERB-SDS, DPS-NN, BSP-OL and DRF.^[23] Bogdan Bogdanov received 57 votes (from PP-DB, DRF and MECh) and Kosta Stoyanov received 53 votes (from Revival and ITN).^[23]

A temporary committee was proposed by MECh MP, Borislav Petkov, to investigate the circumstances around the alleged outbreak of plague among sheep in the area of Velingrad.^[23] The committee received unanimous support from present MPs, with Borislav Petkov from MECh similarly being unanimously elected as the committee's chairman.^[23]

8 Parliamentary Groups were registered at the opening session of the 50th National Assembly.^[24]

The Parliamentary Group leadership was as follows:^[25]

The partisan breakdown of the seats within the Parliamentary Group is as follows.

On the 4th of December, GERB MP, Tervel Georgiev, announced that he intended to resign due to his role as a defense attorney.^[26] He was replaced as an MP by Fidanka Katsarova, vice-mayor of the "Central" district of Plovdiv, on the 12th of December.^[27]

The parliamentary group's leadership is as follows:^[25]

The partisan breakdown of the Parliamentary Group is as follows:

During the election of the speaker, MPs Yavor Bozhankov and Daniel Lorer, who had previously been affiliated with PP were both expelled from the party after they did not vote in favour of PP-endorsed candidate Silvi Kirilov thus leading to the failure of his election.^[28] Despite the end of their affiliation with PP, the two remained members of the PP-DB group due to opposition from Yes, Bulgaria! and DSB to their expulsion from the group as a whole.^[28]

The parliamentary group's leadership is as follows:^[25]

The parliamentary group's leadership is as follows:^[25]

The partisan breakdown of the Parliamentary Group is as follows:

The parliamentary group's leadership is as follows:^[25]

The parliamentary group's leadership is as follows:^[25]

The parliamentary group's leadership is as follows:^[25]

The parliamentary group's leadership is as follows:^[25]