Bulgarian Parliament Fails to Elect Speaker Again

Bulgaria's 51st National Assembly has failed to elect a Speaker after multiple voting sessions, highlighting significant political deadlock following the October elections. In the latest attempt, neither Raya Nazaryan from the GERB-UDF coalition nor Andrey Tsekov from the WCC-DB coalition secured the required majority, each receiving only 68 votes. The inability to elect a Speaker has stalled parliamentary operations, preventing the initiation of coalition talks with President Rumen Radev. Protests have erupted in Sofia, with demonstrators calling the elections illegitimate and demanding changes to the electoral process. Meanwhile, Toshko Yordanov from TISP proposed appointing the oldest member of Parliament as an interim Speaker to break the impasse, which has garnered some support. The parliament is scheduled to reconvene for further discussions on November 13.