An initiative committee will be created on January 1, 2011, which will put forth the presidential candidature of Bulgarian controversial businessman, ex-secret agent and alleged crime boss, Alexei Petrov, Bulgaria's Sofia Press has announced.

In this way, the former secret agent will become the first announced candidature for the Bulgarian presidential elections in the fall of 2011.

Coordinator of the initiative will be the history professor from the Sofia University Milen Semkov.

Since his release under house arrest in early October, Petrov aka the Octopus, who is sued for various criminal activities, has showed political activity.

On November 16, it was announced that he is indirectly launching his own "political project." According to a publication by Mediapool.bg, the participants in a research project to which Petrov contributed founded Friday an "Initiative committee for the founding of a movement under the name "Civic Action - European Concept for an Economic and Patriotic Alternative"."

The movement with that flashy name was undersigned by Iliana Benovska, Teodor Dechev from the Economic Initiative Union, and Prof. Elka Todorova from the University for National and World Economy, Sofia.

At the beginning of November, Petrov announced that he might run for president in the elections in the fall of 2011.

"The presidential contest is worth it, especially if [current Bulgarian PM] Boyko Borisov joins it," said Petrov Sunday, as reported by Dariknews.bg.

PM Borisov has this far denied speculations that he will run for President next fall.

Constitutionally speaking, that would mean relinquishing executive power as a premier for a position that in Bulgaria is of a largely "symbolic" nature.

That is, unless the Bulgarian Constitution is changed in the direction of a presidential republic to merge important powers of the President and PM.

What renders matters even more curious, Aleksei Petrov on his part has spoken in favor of the proposals for constitutional reform launched by controversial RZS party.

RZS has been suspiciously close to Petrov and launched a acrimonious campaign against Borisov's own deputy-PM, interior minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, after confering with Petrov.

Among the constitutional innovations heralded by RZS is precisely the creation of a presidential republic, but this has been something that Aleksei Petrov has so far not expressly supported, stating his preference for a parliamentary republic.

On Tuesday, it was annoucned that Ex-England Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith has been recruited to counsel Petrov, who is being sued on serveral counts of high-profile criminal activities such as racketteering and money laundering.

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