September 30 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria will hold an early general election on October 2, the fourth vote for parliament in 18 months, after the four-party coalition cabinet headed by the leader of We Continue the Change (WCC) party Kiril Petkov was ousted in a vote of no confidence in June.
Candidates from 22 parties and six coalitions are running for seats in the 240-seat unicameral National Assembly. To secure representation in parliament, a party or a coalition needs to win at least 4% of all valid votes.
Members of parliament are elected for a four-year term by proportional representation in 31 multi-seat constituencies. Voters have the right to note a preference for a certain candidate on the party list.
Bulgarian citizens older than 18 years, residing in the country or abroad, are eligible to vote. Bulgarian nationals residing abroad will be able to vote at a total of 755 polling stations in 62 countries, according to data by the foreign ministry. Voters can use a voting machine or cast a paper ballot. Campaigning for the election will close on September 30. No election campaigning is allowed on October 1. Polling stations in Bulgaria will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. local time on Sunday.
Bulgaria's latest political turmoil was caused by former junior coalition partner There Is Such a People (TISP) withdrew from the coalition, leaving its three partners -- WCC, the Socialists and anti-status quo, pro-reform Democratic Bulgaria (DB), short of the support of at least 121 lawmakers.
President Rumen Radev handed successive exploratory mandates to try to form a new government to WCC, centre-right coalition GERB-UDF led by former prime minister Boyko Borisov, and the Bulgarian Socialist Party. All three returned the mandates, with GERB-UDF handing it back as soon as receiving it, and the other two coming short of the necessary parliamentary support.
At the start of August, Radev dissolved parliament and appointed a caretaker government led by Galab Donev, former labour minister in the caretaker cabinet appointed by the president following Borisov's resignation in 2021.