Ahead of Meeting: Socialists Divided on Convening BSP Congress to Elect New Leadership 2026

Balgarianovinite.com The National Council of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) held a meeting on Saturday. It was scheduled last month when the BSP Executive Bureau resigned following the December 11 resignation of the coalition government the BSP was part of. Approached by journalists on their way to the meeting, BSP members differed in their answers on whether a party congress should be convened and whether a new leadership should be elected before the snap parliamentary elections.
Back in December, BSP Chair Atanas Zafirov did not resign, arguing that being elected by the party congress, he should ask again the congress to endorse his resignation. On January 9, he commented that holding the congress in a hurry would scatter the forces of the Left, and that all major decisions must be made after the early parliamentary elections. 
On Saturday, BSP youth organization head Gabriel Valkov told journalists that the National Council meeting would convene a BSP congress. He said the meeting would adopt the party’s political platform for the upcoming parliamentary elections and analyse the BSP’s participation in the outgoing government. “The most important thing is to change the BSP leadership, because the Left needs a new path with new representatives, who I believe with the new platform will be able to return the BSP to the first rows in Parliament,” Valkov commented. In his words, the party is currently united and heading together toward a unifying congress.
Socialist MP Ivan Petkov told journalists that if the BSP does not change its leadership, the party will not be able to face the public that brought down the coalition government. He hopes a congress will be held within two to three weeks to elect a new chair, new Executive Bureau and, possibly, a new National Council, because a new leader cannot work with the current Council. According to him, the new BSP leader should not have been involved in the current ruling coalition in any way. “This means that he should not have been in talks with GERB and [MRF – New Beginning leader Delyan] Peevski,” the Socialist MP explained.
Kaloyan Pargov, Deputy Chair and member of the outgoing Executive Bureau, commented that convening a congress now risks plunging the party into internal strife, which is characteristic of the BSP. “This is my greatest fear based on my 20 years of party experience and what I have seen,” he added. “The congress does not mean taking responsibility, but rather another higher forum in which a broader group can discuss many of the things we will hear today [Saturday] in this hall,” Pargov noted. Asked if the party’s leadership should be changed, he said: “The issue of leaders resigning is a personal decision for each individual. Some have done it quickly, others have tried until they saw that it was no longer possible, but resignation is usually submitted after the public’s assessment of unsuccessful elections. This is the most common reason for changing a leader.”
Borislav Gutsanov, outgoing Executive Bureau member, said it is reasonable to convene a congress as it reflects the collective thinking of the party. “I am a team player and I have demonstrated this on more than one occasion, and I believe that it is appropriate for matters to be discussed within the party’s bodies. In my opinion, convening a congress is the correct decision,” he told journalists. When asked whether he himself would run for BSP chairman, Gutsanov replied: “Let’s first see what the plenary session decides. I am a supporter of collective measures and decisions.”  Ahead of Meeting: Socialists Divided on Convening BSP Congress to Elect New Leadership 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-01-10 12:37:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law