Bulgaria to Hold Early Election on March 26

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has said he will dissolve Parliament as of January 27 and set March 26 as the date for the next early election.

Radev has signed the decree two days into his term as President, paving the way for an interim government.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), which backed Radev's presidential candidacy, had expressed preference for March 26 as an election date, while Boyko Borisov's conservatives, GERB, had insisted on April 02 as a better option. 

Bulgaria's 43rd National Assembly will be disbanded less than 2.5 years after convening for its first session.

The snap election on March 26, which follows the resignation of Borisov as Prime Minister, will be the third early parliamentary poll in less than four years. It took more than two months to set the date as Radev's predecessor, Rosen Plevneliev, was constitutionaly barred from dissolving Parliament - a prerequisite for calling elections.

In February 2013, Borisov's first government stepped down amid street protests. The socialist-liberal government that took over after an election in May, however, remained in office only 14 months as the coalition collapsed and protests had been taking place for months over a decision (later reversed) to appoint controversial lawmaker Delyan Peevski as head of Bulgaria's domestic security agency.

For the third time since 2013, a caretaker government will be in charge of preparing the election.

By signing a decree, Radev has appointed former Parliament Speaker Ognyan Gerdzhikov as interim Prime Minister. 

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