New parliamentary group emerges in Bulgarian politics

06/12/2007

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Members of parliament expelled from the National Movement for Stability and Progress (NDSV) during the past couple of weeks, as well as some who left voluntarily, established a new party Wednesday (December 5th). The Bulgarian New Democracy (BND) is being led by Borislav Ralchev, a former senior official in the NDSV. If all former NDSV members join, newcomer BND would have 14 seats in parliament, including another NDSV member who left the party on Thursday. Regardless, the ruling coalition retains a solid majority. (24 Chasa, Sega, Dnevnik - 06/12/07; BGNES, Focus, Darik - 05/12/07)