Karlovo Mayor Elected Leader of Bulgaria's Right-wing UDF

Politics » DOMESTIC | July 16, 2012, Monday // 08:10
Karlovo Mayor Elected Leader of Bulgaria's Right-wing UDF: Karlovo Mayor Elected Leader of Bulgaria's Right-wing UDF Karlovo Mayor Emil Kabaivanov was elected leader of Bulgaria's right-wing party Union of Democratic Forces, UDF. Photo by sds.bg

Karlovo Mayor Emil Kabaivanov is the new leader of Bulgaria's right-wing party Union of Democratic Forces, UDF.

The result was announced after processing 100% of the protocols from the voting polls.

Kabaivanov won against the Member of the Parliament Vanyo Sharkov in a runoff held Sunday.

The Mayor collected 3 941 votes, while Sharkov lost with a close margin – he got 3 652 votes. 85% of all party members have taken part in the election.

The Union had to elect a new leader, after Martin Dimitrov resigned mid-May over uncertainty regarding the future of the Blue Coalition of the UDF with offshoot Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, led by former PM Ivan Kostov.

Kabaivanov received support from people in the party, who oppose the union with Kostov or the so-called Blue Coalition while Shrakov was endorsed by Martin Dimitrov.

After the first round, held on July 8, Sharkov came out ahead receiving 3 172 votes, followed by Kabaivanov with 2 624 out of a total of some 8 000 UDF supporters who voted. Third was long-time UDF key politician Ivan Sotirov, with nearly 1 600 votes.

Although support for the Union is dwindling and the Blue Coalition has only 12 MPs (out of 240), during the transition from socialism in the 1990s, the Union of Democratic Forces was Bulgaria's leading rightist political actor.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Domestic » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: Ivan Kostov, Emil Kabaivanov, Union of Democratic Forces, UDF, Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, Martin Dimitrov, Vanyo Sharkov, Ivan Sotirov, leader, Blue Coalition, Karlovo Mayor

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria