In the history of modern Bulgarian State, the functions of head of State have been performed by a monarch, a Regency Council and, later on, by collegial bodies like a Presidium of the National Assembly and a State Council.

The institution of President of the Republic has a relatively recent history and is associated with Bulgaria's transition to democracy and with the new structuring of institutions within the context of this transition.

The presidential institution in Bulgaria came into being upon the adoption of the country's new Constitution on 12 July 1991. The establishment of a republic with a parliamentary system of government was accordingly accompanied by introduction of the institution of President of the Republic as head of State.

The immediate predecessor of this institution was the institution of Chairman (President) of the Republic, introduced by revisions of the Constitution of 1971 effected as a result of a decision of the Round Table and adopted in April 1990 by the 9th Ordinary National Assembly.

The office of Chairman (President) of the Republic was held by Petar Mladenov (elected on 3 April 1990 by the 9th Ordinary National Assembly) and Zhelyu Zhelev (elected on 1 August 1990 by the 7th Grand National Assembly).

The first President of the Republic to be elected by popular vote according to the provisions of the new Constitution was Dr Zhelyu Zhelev, who won the presidential elections in the second round of voting on 19 January 1992 by 52.85%. Blaga Dimitrova was elected Vice President.

The second President of the Republic was Petar Stoyanov, elected on 3 November 1996 by 59.73% of the votes. Todor Kavaldjiev was elected Vice President.

The third President of the Republic is Georgi Parvanov, who garnered 54.13% of the votes in the second round of the elections on 18 November 2001. Angel Marin was elected Vice President.

Article 92 (1) of the Constitution declares the President of the Republic head of State, who embodies the unity of the nation and represents the State in international relations. By virtue of the direct popular vote, the President possesses immediate democratic legitimacy as his or her powers derive from the voters' choice. The power exercised by the head of state does not ensue from the power of any other political institution.

The President participates in the separation of powers but is not a subject of either the legislature, the executive or the judiciary. He or she holds powers in all three branches of state government and in this way lends stability and flexibility to the political process and the parliamentary system of government adopted in Bulgaria. In this sense, the head of State plays the role of a political arbitrator between the institutions and, in the performance of this function, proceeds from the nation's strategic interests and objectives on which civil society has reached a consensus in principle. The legal status of the President, guaranteed by the Constitution, enables him or her to remedy politically imbalanced, precipitate and unjustified legislative and executive decisions.

The Basic Law divides the competence for making and implementing the country's domestic and foreign policy between the President and the Government so that balanced governance decisions could me made, projecting not only the political programme of the parliamentary majority but taking account of the interests of the entire people as well.

The President has the right to brief the National Assembly on all basic issues within the range of his or her powers. This right ought to be interpreted as enabling him or her to make certain proposals falling within the competence of Parliament. The President, however, has no right to initiate legislation. He or she can only propose revisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The President is vested with an important power related to the law-making process. Whenever he or she finds a law passed by the National Assembly to be unconstitutional or where any such law contains solutions that are unacceptable to the President, the head of State may return it to the National Assembly for further consideration. This power is popularly referred to as the "veto" power. The President may challenge the content of an entire law or of particular provisions.

The Bulgarian Constitution affords a possibility to grant asylum to persons who are persecuted for reasons of their convictions or activities in defence of internationally recognized rights and freedoms. The procedure for the granting of asylum is regulated in the Asylum and Refugees Act. President Parvanov has issued a decree mandating Vice President Angel Marin to exercise the power to afford asylum. To facilitate the Vice President in the performance of this function, an Asylum Granting Committee has been established at the Administration of the President. Competent legal experts have been recruited as members of that Committee, and they give an opinion on each application for asylum.

The President may exempt a convicted offender from the full or partial implementation of a penal sanction imposed by the court for a committed offence. In this way, the President exercises the power of pardon vested in him or her by the Constitution. Pardon is an act of humanity. It is not a means of remedying unfairly imposed sanctions but takes into account changes in the behaviour of the sentenced person, in his or her state of health or in his or her family status. The pardoning power is exercised by Vice President Angel Marin. A special Pardons Committee, consisting of prominent experts in criminal law and criminal procedure, evaluates each application and submits recommendations to the Vice President. The power of pardon is exercised on exceedingly rare occasions and only provided there is convincing evidence that a further implementation of the penal sanction has lost its purpose.

Scheduling of elections is an essential duty of the President. Whenever the term of office of the National Assembly or of the local government authorities expires, as well as upon a pre-term termination of the life of Parliament, the President schedules elections by decree. By-elections are scheduled as well, in the event of a pre-term termination of the term of office of a local government authority.

The President may furthermore appoint a date for conduct of a national referendum, where the National Assembly has passed a resolution on this.

The President represents the State in international relations. He or she has the right to sign international treaties after coordination with the Council of Ministers and without the need of express authorization.

The President appoints and removes from office the Ambassadors of Bulgaria, acting on a motion by the Council of Ministers. In his or her capacity as head of State, the President receives the letters of credence and the letters of recall of the foreign diplomatic agents.

The granting of and release from Bulgarian citizenship is among the basic powers of the President, which he or she can delegate to the Vice President. All applications for acquisition of and release from Bulgarian citizenship are considered at the Bulgarian Citizenship Council with the Ministry of Justice. Acting on a report from this Council, the Minister of Justice proposes to the Vice President to decree acquisition, resumption, release from, or deprivation of Bulgarian citizenship or revocation of naturalization.

According to the Constitution, the President presides over the Consultative Council on National Security. This advisory body adopts opinions and proposals to the institutions of State, and discusses the most important issues related to national security and national defence.

The presidential power to promulgate the laws is a matter of practical relevance to the separation of powers. The President decrees the promulgation in the State Gazette of the laws adopted by the National Assembly. The laws enter into force three clear days after their promulgation and the state bodies and the citizens are bound to observe and implement them. A law must be gazetted within 15 days after its passage by Parliament.

Endorsement of changes in the boundaries and in the administrative centres of political units on a motion by the Council of Ministers is an important presidential power provided for in the Constitution. The participation of the head of State in the effecting of changes in territorial administration guarantees political neutrality and sustainability of these processes and forestalls unjustified and precipitate decisions.

The status of the President as an embodiment of national unity finds expression in his or her prerogative to confer orders and medals. In this way, the President conveys the acknowledgement of the State for the achievements of Bulgarian citizens who excel in various spheres. Honours are conferred on foreigners for their contribution to Bulgaria or for strengthening the relations of Bulgaria with other States.

The President's power to name places of national importance and nucleated settlement is a concrete expression of the status of the presidential institution in respect of national unity. The idea of this constitutional arrangement is to achieve sustainability and make it possible to take account of various interests and traditions.

The President, as head of State is traditionally Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. This function is performed both in peacetime and in wartime. The President is empowered to appoint and discharge the highest command personnel of the Armed Forces and to award the highest military ranks, acting on a recommendation by the Council of Ministers. This restricts the dependence of the army leadership on the executive, which, in its character, is party-dominated.

The President is vested with two more powers in the sphere of defence and the Armed Forces. One power is to order general or partial mobilization. Apart from this, the President can declare a state of war, a state of martial law or another state of emergency. In such exceptional cases, the National Assembly is convened forthwith by the head of State to pronounce on the presidential decisions.

The President practically governs the country during the period between a dissolution of the National Assembly and the conduct of early parliamentary elections. In this case, the President appoints a caretaker cabinet, which is accountable to him or her.

A number of regulatory acts provide for the appointment of state officials by the President. The Constitution vests the President with this power because of the role he or she plays in the Bulgarian system of government. Another reason is to ensure a measure of independence vis-a-vis the other bodies and powers, and above all the executive branch. The President of the Republic appoints four Constitutional Court judges, two members of the Governing Board of the Agency for International Aid, all members of the Central Commission for Local Elections, the Chief of General Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, the Chief Secretary and the directors of national services at the Ministry of Interior, three members of the Managing Board of the Bulgarian National Bank, four members of the Council for Electronic Media, one member of the Communications Regulation Commission, and four members of the Commission for Protection against Discrimination.

Boris Velchev
Chairman of the Legal Advisory Board to the President of the Republic