Bulgaria's Former President to Leave Party Chairman Office

Bulgarian President (2002-2012) Georgi Parvanov has said he is leaving the chairmanship of his brainchild ABV, a party that splintered off the socialists in 2014.

His deputies Ivaylo Kalfin and Rumen Petkov are also stepping down, Parvanov has told NOVA TV broadcaster.

"People demand change... Change cannot be made according to the model showcased by some [politicians] - someone else should do it and we should stay the same," he has argued, in a reference to the results of the presidential election and the electoral system referendum.

He has declared intentions to take the step formally at a forthcoming party congress on January 15.

ABV's presidential candidate Ivaylo Kalfin, a former Labour Minister and MEP, had one of the lowest results among leaders of big political parties.

Parvanov's organization, on the other hand, was a coalition partner in the outgoing government but withdrew its support for it earlier this year.

The move does not mean any of the three politicians will retire from politics, the former head of state has added, citing the need to "let the young ones in".

Parvanov has already resigned once. That happened last year, when he took the step in protest against his party's support for government plans to take on BGN 16 B in foreign borrowing. ABV, however, reelected Parvanov at a national conference in April 2015.

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